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Our Dynasty TSB 3 Coaching League


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A LITTLE BACKGROUND....(well maybe a lot)....

My friends and I got hooked on Tecmo when it first came out on NES. At first, we played it like everyone else -- Man vs Man. It was fun. But it was very gamey as on Defense you always played with the speedy safety who could cover the whole screen. On offense, the heavy hitters were great to knock everyone off of you.

My dad grew up playing "Talking Football". See link...

Long story short....my dad was interested in playing Tecmo. We knew he couldn't handle the gameplay because he didn't play video games. So we decided to try out Coach and I tell you what...Tecmo became god-like. Now EVERYONE, even a middle aged non-gamer, could compete and play and have fun. It opened up the game and made it enjoyable and easy for all...not just those who practiced a lot or had cheap tactics.

Coaching also opened up new thinking into Tecmo. Now the plays you used in your playbook became really important. And managing roster conditions was key as well. The whole neighborhood got involved.

We progressed onto the SNES and that was even better. Then...the ultimate came out...Tecmo Super Bowl III. :D

It had trades. It had create-a-players. It had 2 point conversions. And best of all, it had DEFENSIVE formations and audibles. This was a huge improvement to the coaching game because now, picking the play wasn't the only way to stop someone. Now there were formational ways to stop your opponent and even mind-games to be played with audibles and fake audibles. It took Tecmo to a whole new level.

We played out dozens of seasons. Several seasons got erased which was absolutely infuriating when we had to start over from scratch -- especially after you got some good trades FINALLY for those crappy Arizona Cardinals. There were many a tense moment when the SNES was accidentally knocked and the screen froze......everyone gasped in absolute horror.......then we hit the reset button....and find out EVERYTHING IS WIPED OUT. Grrrrr... :P The culprit was cussed at and berated for days.

Now we are all older, have families, have jobs, and don't have the time to play out full seasons. But we've found a great way to keep the game alive....

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TECMO 3 DYNASTY LEAGUE -- COACHING MODE

About 4 years ago, we resurrected the SNES and started Tecmo 3 again. We had 5 coaches and we each took 6 teams -- one in each division.

Being that we had lives now, it wasn't feasible to play through an entire season anymore. So we agreed to COM vs COM the season and just play out the playoffs. Whosever team made it made it and we coached it out from there. The reason we COM vs COM instead of skipping is because skipping produces really random outcomes and the results don't necessarily reflect the talent of the teams. It also produces some illogical stats. So to give meaning to our trade offseason, we decided we needed to COM vs COM so the teams that truly deserved to be in the playoffs made it.

COM vs COM......Yes, that means one of us had to be the one to "push b" at halftime to keep the games going. And with one TV dedicated to Tecmo for about 4 weeks, the wives/girlfriends got really REALLY sick of "hut...hut...hut...hut...hut....oooo.....ugh..mmm." :D

But eventually playoffs arive and phone calls are made. "You're up!" The pressure to perform is intense as you haven't gotten to play in a month (or more) because you had to wait for the regular season to finish. You might have 5 teams in. You might have 1. You might have none :P . Your best players might be injured. Nonetheless, you have to perform when the time comes.

We started with the 1995 season and 4 years later, we are now up to 2007 (yay! it hasn't gotten erased yet). Needless to say, the SNES is now strictly a Tecmo Super Bowl 3 machine. No one DARES take it out for fear of it being erased. It is our "precious".

The Superbowl winner each season gets his name and team stickered on our football hat that gets passed around and held by the current champion (kind of like our version of the Stanley Cup). He/she also gets a 50 cent trophy with their name, team, and year of season won to proudly display on their mantle in their homes (and everyone does).

In the game, the champ gets one "protect" for the offseason. More on that later....

In the meantime, feel free to view our season results in the linked google doc spreadsheet:

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dude this is cool. im so glad we can play these on the pc now and can mod the heck out of it. your descriptions bring back alot of memories for me. it seems like there was always someone turning your game off or knocking over the console and erasing everything. i remember my sister turned mine off so she could watch something on tv and it erased everything we had done. i might try to get a coach mode season going with my bro.

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dude this is cool. im so glad we can play these on the pc now and can mod the heck out of it. your descriptions bring back alot of memories for me. it seems like there was always someone turning your game off or knocking over the console and erasing everything. i remember my sister turned mine off so she could watch something on tv and it erased everything we had done. i might try to get a coach mode season going with my bro.

Yeah, I'm going to have to learn about this "playing on the PC" stuff. I'm new to this and we still play oldschool style on the SNES.

If we could do what we do now on the PC instead of the SNES, that would save a lot of time and headache.

Right now, we have to pass the SNES back and forth and visit eachother's houses to play against one another during playoffs. It would be cool if that could be done online.

We had one tense moment recently. My brother's car overheated and caught on fire. He pulled to the side of the road. The SNES with Tecmo 3 was inside.....and he didn't bother to get it out. Luckily, the fire department came and put the fire out before it spread past the engine. The season is safe PHEW!

So why didn't he get the SNES out? He said that he would feel and look stupid holding a SNES on the side of the road as his car was burning and firemen were working.

All of us told him how much of an IDIOT he was for potentially ruining our precious dynasty. WHO CARES IF YOU LOOK STUPID! SAVE TECMO!!! SAVE THE SEASON!!!! IDIOT!!!! WHO CARES ABOUT THE CAR!!! IT'S TECMO!! IDIOT!!!!

"Well why not get my CDs instead. They are more important. If I was to get something, why not those?" he says.

No sir....CDs are replaceable. Tecmo Seasons are not.....IDIOT!!!!

He shutup then. Luckily, no harm, no foul. But it be a life lesson learned for him (we hope).

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Thank you for posting your league history! I could read this stuff all day long. I really need to give TSB3 another play. I played it on Sega way back when it came out but the NES TSB has always been my #1. Coach Mode kicksass! :D

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!] mobile.png

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HOW WE DO TRADE OFFSEASON/DYNASTY

When we first started playing TSB3 in 1995, we were a bit scared of the random way trades went through or didn't go through. All teams we coached had "protects" which was basically our franchise tag meaning no one could trade for our core players. Consequently, only the peripheral players changed.

Now in our new dynasty seasons that we started 4 years ago, we've completely embraced the illogical ways of Tecmo trading. There are no more "protects" and the offseason has become just as exciting and fun as playing the games.

What kind of madman would design a game and use randomness as the logic behind whether a trade went through? Well, we are glad he did because it is unlike any other football game offseason ever made and it is more fun too.

The only rule we have made is starters for starters, backups for backups. So we can try to trade Parmalee for Emmit Smith. But we can't try to trade Kirby for Emmit Smith.

With each of our 6 coaches having 5 teams, all the coaches jockey to try to better their teams each trading offseason. In the meantime, they are hoping their star players don't get targeted and leave their team. Not knowing if you will get a player or lose a player creates very intense moments. "Oh yeah, you are going for my Marino???? Well then I'll will go for your Barry Sanders!!!"

Teams can go from rags to riches or vice versa in one season. At this point in our 2007 season in Tecmo, the reigning champion Raiders have Elway at QB and Emmit at RB. They are goooood. On the flip side, mighty Dallas has fallen to the point of having Wade Wilson at QB and Heyward (not that good in coach) at RB. It's a constant struggle for each coach to try to improve their teams. And with all the teams taken by coaches, it doesn't become a situation of "raping" the computer teams.

It's a great way to keep parity in the game as well. You will often target the best teams or the coaches you have the most problems with. It's open season on trading. The Cleveland Browns in our game went from terrible to juggernaut (winning 2 straight Superbowls) to terrible again. It's almost like the NFL with its ebbs and flows. Is there any other football video game that captures this essence better? I don't think so.

It's also fun because each coach has developed their own strategy on how to build their teams through trades. Some pump up their defense. Some constantly go for the superstar QBs and RBs. Some even try to get a good O-Line so they don't have to worry about the break-downs.

It's amazing how, seemingly on accident, Tecmo has created the perfect offseason atmosphere for dynasty league play that has parity, change, and most of all...fun! It's more balanced than any other game I've seen.

Note: If someone has figured out why trades go through and why they don't, please don't tell us how. That might ruin the fun. But I would be interested in knowing if someone actually figured it out (yes or no).

More to come on Create-A-Players and how we use them....

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I want to live in your neighborhood!

That's the beauty of Coach mode -- it opens the doors for many people to be able to play.

2 of our 6 coaches never played Tecmo before and 2 of them don't really play video games at all.

And, if you just play the playoffs, the time commitment is very minimal for the players as well.

All you need is 3+ reliable people and away you go!

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HOW WE DO FREE AGENTS AND CREATE-A-PLAYERS IN OUR DYNASTY LEAGUE

Over the years, we learned that open season on free agents simply rewards the AFC East and Central the most (because they are first up).

Create-A-Players can overwhelm the game as well. So here is our system....

First, we did unlock all of the Great free agents by skipping 3 seasons and forcing the same Superbowl winner 3 times. It's just too cool to have those guys available.

The basic rules are...starting after our 1st season, each coach gets either 1 Free Agent pickup OR 1 Create-A-Player on one of their teams that did not make the playoffs. That way new players are integrated slowly into the game and not in one gigantic wave.

For Free Agents, you could only improve "points" on one person. All others had to be a decrease in points in order to afford that acquisition. So you cannot improve 2 positions at once. You can improve 1 position and all other moves had to be a decrease. This is to keep decent free agents available for other teams.

For Create-A-Players, we have always gone by the standing rule that you MUST follow an in-game "mentor" for attributes. So no 100 hitting power defensive linemen and no 100 maximum speed wide receiver. You had to pick someone in the game (not a Great) and that was your max for each attribute. You ARE allowed to go past your mentor if you have matched all of his attributes and are still getting updates. However, you must build evenly (1 stick per attribute) and aren't allowed to load up one attribute.

We did this so the game didn't get "broken" by rediculous players and the system has worked out pretty well. The most common mentor is DL Cortez Kennedy. He's got the power you need and you don't have to waste a lot fo time building up speed attributes when it is the power you really want. It's a lot of fun trying to find the right mentor -- someone who has a lot of the attributes you want without a lot of the peripherals you don't need. Coaches have had different approaches and strategies.

Believe it or not, it isn't too hard to surpass your mentor. We've got a created RB in our league that is a full stick better than Barry Sanders (his mentor) in most categories. We've got an O-Lineman that has almost filled every bar available. And we had the most dominant player in our game so far -- defensive lineman John Doe. His mentor was, of course, Cortez Kennedy. He got so good his hitting power got up to 100 in average condition. He was a menace every play and could single handedly take over a game.

Too keep the game sane, we do have a rule that if you win a Superbowl with a Created Player that has exceeded their mentor, they must be erased and you can remake the guy. This happened to John Doe and he is no more. But he accomplished his goal and got his coach their first Superbowl victory.

Each coach is also allowed to remake their guys at the end of each season if their player has gone stale.

Now, in season 2007, we have filled all the slots of Created players. So we are left with Free Agency and it is REALLY tough to find points to burn. (Does anyone know how to gain more points?) Now you've got to give up something good to get something good. In our early seasons, the coaches made it a priority to get all of the great defensive backs out of Free Agency (because defense is so difficult to play). Usually, these coaches sacrificed their O-Line to get them. Now it is coming back to haunt them because with 6 created defensive linemen like Cortez Kennedy, the D-Line is really wreaking havoc on those teams. So there has been a concerted effort by a couple of coaches to get the good O-Linemen back in the game and to put the Great Running Backs back into free agency -- because the game has enough good running backs and running is good enough in Tecmo as is. But they are fighting against other coaches who pull those RBs back out because they love the great rushers. It's a fun dynamic struggle.

Oh, one more rule we have regarding rosters is that, as coaches, we are only allowed to play Running Backs at the #1 RB slot. We used to allow tight ends and WRs to play there. But we feel it is more fun to have to address depth in the offseason. It makes it more realistic. So now, it is a big deal to have someone like a Leonard Russell as your backup to Barry Sanders in case Barry goes down with injury. Like I said, there are enough good RBs to go around without having to use WRs and TEs as your primary (though you can still use them in the 2nd RB slot). Every other spot (WR, TE, 2nd RB) we leave as interchangable to encourage creativeness. Often TEs are used as a WR because there are very few plays that the TE is the primary target. And fast WRs frequently get used in teh 2nd RB spot. After all, no team in real life uses WRs or TEs as their main RB. But RBs frequently can play on the line at WR.

More to come on coaching strats.....

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Shadowhooch, hit me up sometime if you want to try things online, currently very close to having the ability to have a website for TSB3 with the ability to extract full statistics online and would be willing to help you out.

Yeah, definitely keep me posted. I'd love to have the ability to play someone else online in coach mode. And it would be AMAZING if we ever got to the point of having full offseason trading, create-a-players, and leagues.

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THE ART OF DEFENSE

When playing MAN, it is easier to cover and be your own D with one great player. When playing coach, defense is one of the hardest aspects of the game. A good stacked secondary is of utmost importance. It is even important to have good Nickel and Dime defenders for when those defenses are played. It also helps to have 1 or 2 great Defensive Lineman to steal some sacks on pass plays. In coach, Linebackers play a lesser role. They seem to only help against sweeps or help to pursue players and limit a gain to 15 yards instead of 30. Good LBs occasionally break through the O-Line on play action plays too.

On the original TSB and Super TSB, it was a matter of 1) Picking the play and 2) getting "pass" or "run" correct (as I think they defended the run better when you pick run and defended the pass better when you picked a pass).

With TSB3, defensive formations made playing defense more of an art. Typically, you pick the play opposite of the defensive formation you picked. For example, if you pick Dime you most likely need to pick a run play. If you pick normal, you will most likely pick a pass play to pair up with it. That way, you are defending both aspects of the offense in some manner. Here's a breakdown of defensive formations and how they are used in coach.

GOALLINE DEFENSE:

This is an all or nothing type of defense that is normally paired with you picking a pass play. You have a 90%+ chance of stuffing the run for no gain. Only a spin or a broken tackle will result in a gain for the offense. Then you have a 25% chance of defending the pass if you pick the play. If you do, you have a good chance of a sack for a big loss. If you don't pick the play, you could get burned for 30+ yards. When you don't pick the play, you have to hold your breath hoping that the opposing QB is dumb or misses the wide-open throw (which happens more than you might think and results in the offensive coach cussing up a storm).

You have to been keen on formations when playing a goalline D. It is foolish to stay in goalline if you see the offensive formation does not match up to the play you picked. So you need to audible into something more reasonable (at the last second of course). Waiting until the last second is important because, if you surprised your opponent with Goalline, it will often result in the offense makeing an audible or fake audible if he had a run play picked. Then, you can watch to see if his formation changed (a dead giveway that he truly audibled) and move into a pass defending formation.

One other drawback of goalline is that, when you do see the offense audible and you move into Nickel or Dime to defend the pass better, your defenders will often not cover the receivers at all and just run up to the line of scrimmage. I don't know why this is. Maybe it is because you just put a bunch of defensive linemen in the secondary and they are dumb. Once in awhile, they will stay back and cover -- it seems unpredictable. Bottom line is, you need to have picked your opponent's pass play if you picked a goalline defense.

On the other hand, if you are facing a poor QB or if you have a great DL, it can be well worth the risks. It's all about timing and your style of play.

Goalline Defense is really ideal when you opponent is within your 10 yard line. In this case, you are shutting down his run options and, with a shortened field, several pass plays don't work as well as they do normally. Frequently, the receivers drop the ball as they are up against the back of the endzone or the QB leads them incorrectly because they don't account for the shortened field. So the chance of the opponent's QB screwing up is much greater inside your 10 yard line than at other times when WRs have space to work in. Hey, this is kind of like real life!!!! Tecmo simulation gets it right again (seemingly on accident)!!!

MORE DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS TO COME....

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THE ART OF DEFENSE CONTINUED....

DIME FORMATION

I'm jumping to Dime formation because a Dime/Goaline switchup is often a defense that a lot of newer coaching players will employ. These two formations simplify the game into stopping either the pass or run with your formation and stopping the other side with an attempt to pick the play. With Normal and Nickel formations, it takes a deeper knowledge of how plays perform to understand the weaknesses of your defense.

Dime formation is the safest formation to play -- it helps stop the big play. It is the definition of "bend don't break". All the receivers are usually covered no matter what play you pick -- and pass plays are the biggest threat to gaining 30+ yards in one play. Plus you have people back to help limit the damage on run plays.

When playing dime, you should usually pick a run to give yourself a 25% chance of picking the run play and it is wise to know what types of run plays "kill" dime defense. Sweeps and draws can rattle off 10+ yards a pop while "lead" runs usually average 7ish yards. That being said, if you face a great RB, he is going to make special things happen no matter what type of run play. However, if you face a poor RB, you can more predictably limit his opportunities.

Seeing a dime defense will frequently force an audible by the offense which should work to your advantage. If you see the audible to a run, you can jump to normal or goalline to stuff them. Though be careful of the fake audible as this is more common against dime to try to trick you to get out of it.

A great secondary is paramount to a good dime defense. If you have a poor secondary, they will have trouble reacting to the run and will have a lot of covered balls caught. One coach in our league focused on building the ultimate secondary. He had Eric Turner, Rod Woodson, Langham, and 2 Greats. He emplyed the "all dime defense". He played dime all the time and dared you to try to beat it. You couldn't pass against him. And his secondary was so good, they often kept several types of run plays to 5 yards or less on their own. He won 2 Superbowls in a row with that until we broke up and wrecked his secondary through trades.

The one big downside to dime is that, even when you pick your opponents run play, it will result in a very short loss (3 yards or less typically). That means they are always within striking distance of a 1st down even after you pick their play once. To actually stop an opponent, you usually have to pick their play twice between 1st and 3rd down. Plus, running backs don't screw up like QBs. They always rush for gains if you don't pick the play. On the flip side, picking your opponent's pass play will often result in a loss of 10 yards plus giving you much more breathing room.

So dime is a safe defense to play. But it doesn't necessarilly mean it is the best way to actually stop an opponent. You have to keep the offense guessing. Surprising them by your formation choice and forcing the "audible dance" is key -- as we move on to Normal and Nickel defenses.

Edited by shadowhooch
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Taking a break from formations a bit...

Here's the story of the "All Dime" Cleveland Browns. When we started Tecmo, one very well respected coach had won 4 of the first 5 seasons. He won the 1995 season with his Dolphins. He won the 1997 season with his Dolphins. Then he won his 1998 and 1999 seasons with his Seahawks. Slowing him down major focus by all the other coaches during trade season. Was he really that much better than us?

By the way, the Dolphin are truly one of the most deep teams in Tecmo. All they need is a good RB and their are golden. Even if you get a few of their players off of their team via trades, they have good backups to mitigate the loss.

The Seahawks Chris Warren seems to play well beyond his numbers. He must have the perfect balance of attributes because he is always tough to stop.

The coach of the Cleveland Browns was a veteran coach who had played with us since the beginning of Tecmo in the early 90's. A bit eccentric in his style of play, he had NEVER won a Superbowl in all that time. No one was too worried when picked up a couple of Greats in FA for his secondary over 2 years. No one batted an eye when he added a good QB.

But then, he acquired a RB Great Browns in Free Agency and a Great WR via a trade after season 5. He introduced the "all dime" defense to the game and relied on his great secondary of Langham, Turner, Great CB Cardinals, and Great S Cardinals to do all the work.

That secondary essentially shut down or interecepted you if you tried to pass. And they were so fast. They reacted to the run so fast, you had a hard time gaining more than 5 yards on a run play. On top of that he forced you into mind games as you tried to pick runs against him. (Do you pick the same play twice, thrice, four times? Is he sitting on your best run play and picking that over and over? That middle run play only got 3 yards last time, do you avoid that? If you do, then he has a 1 in 3 chance of picking your play.)

A fumble by your RB was devastating as well. It took a lot of work to get down the field and to fumble was truly deflating. Needless to say, the coach of the Cleveland Browns won his first Superbowl and won the next year as well. He really revealed how much value a fully great secondary can have and how they work well in dime defense.

Now that they have been broken up, all the coaches keep an eye on eachothers team and try not to let anyone get that good of a secondary again. If they do, it can mean lights out for the offense.

Note: Great CB Cardinals is head and shoulders the best DB in the game. He almost always leads the league in INTs. He is so good, he can get completely burned and race back as the ball is in the air to beat the throw to the receiver. Yes, he runs nearly as fast as the ball. I've even seen him jump up and steal the ball out of the air as he is racing back to cover. Game changer.

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I love leaping INTs!

I just played a season of coach against the COM and came back to this thread to see you had posted exactly what I had learned. I eventually started calling dime defense every play while selecting a running play. It worked like a charm. But it also got really boring. You've got to have that other MAN player to make Coach interesting.

It's interesting that the Byars/Parmalee combo is not good in Coach mode. When I play against them in COM mode, they make quite a pair. Even with that pass heavy offense I still select a running play most of the time because they will make me pay.

It's like you've said before, Heyward is not tough in Coach mode. Guys like that just move too slowly in Coach.

How mad do people get playing Coach? So much seems out of your hands. I would have a passing play with five targets and my QB would throw to the one guy that's covered or, even worse, he would start running.

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I love leaping INTs!

I just played a season of coach against the COM and came back to this thread to see you had posted exactly what I had learned. I eventually started calling dime defense every play while selecting a running play. It worked like a charm. But it also got really boring. You've got to have that other MAN player to make Coach interesting.

It's interesting that the Byars/Parmalee combo is not good in Coach mode. When I play against them in COM mode, they make quite a pair. Even with that pass heavy offense I still select a running play most of the time because they will make me pay.

It's like you've said before, Heyward is not tough in Coach mode. Guys like that just move too slowly in Coach.

How mad do people get playing Coach? So much seems out of your hands. I would have a passing play with five targets and my QB would throw to the one guy that's covered or, even worse, he would start running.

Yep, even in Coach mode the computer is a joke. Back when we played the computer during the regular season, a coach was made fun of if he ever lost to the computer. The computer is just dumb. They will pass it into your dime defense all day long. They will punt on 4th and 1 from you 40. They will go for 2 instead of tying the game at the end. Just dumb.

Regarding passing, yes, back in the day we used to get really mad at the QBs. Over time, we've learned a few rule of thumbs about QB play in coach mode. There is a whole new learning curve to knowing which pass plays are good and which are not compared to Man. Here's what we've found.

1) The fewer options you give the QB, usually the better. So the plays with 5 or 4 receiver options often don't work out well. Though there are a some exceptions.

2) Play action passes work the best because the receivers tend to be more wide open and, inherently, there are fewer choices for the QB to make.

It took us years of playing to learn which plays were most effective. That is some of the fun of it though -- exploring different play and playbook options. Most plays have tendencies where the QB throws to a certain receiver more often than the rest. Some plays the QB stands and waits. And some plays the QB seems to want to run. You just have to try them out and learn from experience.

We learned that the "best" pass play is the Motion Flea Flicker pass (right and :lol:. Even against dime, the bottom receiver is often wide open. However, this play has a HUGE downside as well. If they pick it, it is the most fumble prone play in the game.

One of the safest pass plays is the T formation Screen on Up and B. The top RB is often left wide open and the QB throws it to him more often than not. This is huge if you have a good RB like Emmit because that is who gets the ball in space. Another big upside is that even if they pick it, the blocking back buys time for the QB to get the pass off. The downside of this play is that, if the RB is covered, it can be an pick 6 for the other team with an INT.

Have fun learning the nuances of plays in coach!

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  • 1 month later...

hey man me and my bro started a coach mode season and decided that for the first season we will just play with default rosters and then do offseason aquisitions after season 1. i like your house rules for this and will implement some form of them in our season. with these rules it makes it to where there is some sort of franchise mode to this game. you could say the create a player rule is like your draft pick for that year. anyway i have quickly found that in coach mode it is very important to get the right pass plays in your playbook in order to have a good passing game. some plays just simply dont work since the qb isnt very smart with his throws. but actually i kind of like that because this makes play picking kind of an art and might take a full season before we have the best plays in our playbook. this game was just so awesome and i am quitting the new madden 12 for awhile so i can get back to making my all time teams roster set. thanks for posting this info.

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  • 1 month later...
hey man me and my bro started a coach mode season and decided that for the first season we will just play with default rosters and then do offseason aquisitions after season 1. i like your house rules for this and will implement some form of them in our season. with these rules it makes it to where there is some sort of franchise mode to this game. you could say the create a player rule is like your draft pick for that year. anyway i have quickly found that in coach mode it is very important to get the right pass plays in your playbook in order to have a good passing game. some plays just simply dont work since the qb isnt very smart with his throws. but actually i kind of like that because this makes play picking kind of an art and might take a full season before we have the best plays in our playbook. this game was just so awesome and i am quitting the new madden 12 for awhile so i can get back to making my all time teams roster set. thanks for posting this info.

Right on! Yep, that's exactly what we did the first season too (Miami Dolphins ended up winning).

You're exactly right. The playbook in coach mode is EVERYTHING. And it is true, you've got to get the pass plays right. There are quite a few that rarely work. Most play action plays work really well. There are some good screen plays too. And there are a handful of plays with a RB blocker that are useful -- especially against a good pass rush.

Most of the run plays work fine -- there are a few stinkers and a few really good ones. Leads work well against a normal defense. Sweeps and draws work best vs dime. It's a ton of fun figuring out which plays work and which don't.

Honestly, coach mode with the franchise rules you are doing is the ultimate football experience of fun! Have a great time!

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Don't want to spoil the fun, but I am mighty surprised to hear a blazing endorsement of.....coach mode? How could playing in coach mode possibly be more fun than playing someone MAN v. MAN. Even MAN v. COM is more fun. With coach mode you are at the whim of the CPU doing dumb things like not throwing to the wide open receiver or diving short of the first down. I don't get the boiling excitement over coach mode. Well, at least you are having fun.

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Don't want to spoil the fun, but I am mighty surprised to hear a blazing endorsement of.....coach mode? How could playing in coach mode possibly be more fun than playing someone MAN v. MAN. Even MAN v. COM is more fun. With coach mode you are at the whim of the CPU doing dumb things like not throwing to the wide open receiver or diving short of the first down. I don't get the boiling excitement over coach mode. Well, at least you are having fun.

Seriously. Coach Mode is what makes Tecmo the most eternally fun football game ever created. You have to admit...playing Man with Madden is much more fun than playing Man in Tecmo. But nothing matches the coaching mode in Tecmo. We used to think the same thing about Man. Now we don't touch it at all. Coach mode takes the cheapness out of the game and opens up the pure competition.

It's like a game of chess. The basic moves are simple. But the mind games get complex.

On defense, you try to get into your opponent's head and pick his plays and steer/confuse him with your defensive formations. And you are rewarded mightily when you pick right.

On offense, you construct a playbook featuring the strengths of your team. You attack, giving it to your play makers, and trying to keep the defense off-balance.

The back and forth emotion involved is more like real coaching than any other football game played.

On top of that, the franchise rules I specified above with trades, free agents, and create-a-players allow you to try to build a great team while your opponents do the same. It's a big game of tug-of-war in the offseason and actually just as much fun as coaching the games.

But the biggest bonus to Coach mode is that ANY novice can play and have fun doing so. It's simply a matter of picking the right plays at the right times. That opens up the game to more people and competition is what makes the world go 'round.

I've tried coaching on Madden. And while the game is more realistic, there's no big risk-reward. It's rather boring.

What makes Tecmo great is the play-pick system. When you pick the other guy's play, you smear him for a big loss. When you pick completely wrong, you get burnt bad. And there are lots of things you can do with formations and playbooks to improve your odds. It's a great and well-balanced game when you coach.

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Seriously. Coach Mode is what makes Tecmo the most eternally fun football game ever created. You have to admit...playing Man with Madden is much more fun than playing Man in Tecmo.
I am not the person to direct that toward, since I’ve never been a fan of Madden due mainly to the game play. I think Tecmo MAN v. MAN is as good as it gets when it comes to any NFL sports game on any system. Looks like we will never agree in that department.
But nothing matches the coaching mode in Tecmo. We used to think the same thing about Man. Now we don't touch it at all. Coach mode takes the cheapness out of the game and opens up the pure competition.
How does COACH mode take the “cheapness” out? There is still the potential to make outrageous catches, and everything else involved with a MAN v. MAN game. As far as pure competition goes, I am not sure how you can make that argument since all you are doing is calling the plays. Does pure competition really involve the CPU QB throwing to the short covered RB v. throwing deep to the wide-open WR? Not trying to give you a hard time, but not sure that makes sense.
It's like a game of chess. The basic moves are simple. But the mind games get complex.
On defense, you try to get into your opponent's head and pick his plays and steer/confuse him with your defensive formations. And you are rewarded mightily when you pick right.
The same goes on in MAN v. MAN, except with the added level of controlling your players once the ball is snapped, which makes it more competitive and fun. If you don’t think your LB or Safety can take down the opponents running back, for instance, there is a whole lot of strategy involved in trying to defend against that.
On offense, you construct a playbook featuring the strengths of your team. You attack, giving it to your play makers, and trying to keep the defense off-balance.
The back and forth emotion involved is more like real coaching than any other football game played.

Again, the same applies to MAN v. MAN. You adapt a play style to meet your teams strengths and weaknesses. For example, with Seattle you are better suited to win through the ground game on the legs of Chris Warren than letting Rick Mirer chuck it up all the time. Consequently, Seattle is more successful overall under an effective use of Warren and short to midrange passes with the occasional deep shot.

On top of that, the franchise rules I specified above with trades, free agents, and create-a-players allow you to try to build a great team while your opponents do the same. It's a big game of tug-of-war in the offseason and actually just as much fun as coaching the games.

Yet again, the same applies. You have the ability to build teams through trades, FA, drafts, etc, in a MAN v. MAN setting.]

But the biggest bonus to Coach mode is that ANY novice can play and have fun doing so. It's simply a matter of picking the right plays at the right times. That opens up the game to more people and competition is what makes the world go 'round.
I can grant you this one sort of, but I would doubt that most experienced Tecmo players would opt to play novices in COACH mode.

 

There is a learning curve to any game, and part of the learning curve is heartache and not doing well. To use your chess example, chess is easy to learn but hard to master. Would you really advocate COACH mode in chess to accommodate novice players? What fun is there is that? Actually, not even sure what COACH mode would look like in chess, so it’s probably a bad analogy on my part.

I've tried coaching on Madden. And while the game is more realistic, there's no big risk-reward. It's rather boring.
What makes Tecmo great is the play-pick system. When you pick the other guy's play, you smear him for a big loss. When you pick completely wrong, you get burnt bad. And there are lots of things you can do with formations and playbooks to improve your odds. It's a great and well-balanced game when you coach.

The play picking element is there in MAN v MAN as well. As far as picking the wrong play in COACH and getting burned badly, you are forgetting the many instances of the CPU not properly directing the play to the appropriate place. In MAN v. MAN you have total control over where to go with the ball. Thus, I fail to see how COACH mode is fun- if anything it would be frustrating to put up with the inadequacies of the CPU. COACH mode is about as tantalizing as watching the CPU play each other, and really is only one step removed, since all you are doing is calling the plays.

As far as “a great well-balanced game when you coach,” have you not been in nail biting games in MAN v. MAN? If I’m in COACH mode and my team is down a score near the end of the game, and I lose b/c my QB decides to not throw it to the deep guy, instead taking a sack, or throwing short, or to a covered WR, that will get old quickly.

Sorry to stifle you at nearly every point. It’s not my intention to persuade you back to MAN games, or anything. Above all, if you like COACH, and can find people that do as well, then by all means.

Edited by CheapCatch
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