Crunch League Football

 Crunch League Football v1.0

(C) 1990 by Stephen David

An Introduction to Crunch League

Introduction

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   Crunch League Football is a unique on-line football simulator.  It allows

players on a bulletin board to coach teams against those of others using the

bulletin board.  The player can set up the roster and plays for his team and

have the computer simulate a realistic game for him.  Following is a brief

discussion of how to play the Crunch League and how it works.  For those of

you who don't know much about football, there is another text file discussing

the game itself.

Starting Out

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   As soon as the sysop has announced the beginning of a new season, it is a

good idea to create a team as soon as possible, due to the fact that there are

only a limited number of teams each season.  The sysop may decide to have a

password in order to log on.  This is usually because he wants to keep

the game within a select group, and in order to play it is necessary to ask

him for the password.

   Once logged on, it is necessary to select a team name.  Depending on how

the game is configured, there are two ways that this might be done.  Usually,

the sysop has set it so the player may choose the name and city for his team.

In special cases, however, he might decide to select the team names and cities

beforehand, in which case the player must choose a team from the list of names

given.

   The next step to creating a team is by far the most important - the draft.

This is done in four rounds, each round with slightly less skilled players in

it than the preceding one.  The coach is allowed to choose two players in the

first round, five in the second, eight in the third, and ten in the fourth.

Different positions are abbreviated in the following way:

Offensive Abbreviations:               Defensive Abbreviations:

  QB   Quarterback                       DB   Defensive Back

  RB   Running Back                       S   Safety

  WR   Wide Receiver                     LB   Linebacker

  TE   Tight End                         NG   Nose Guard

  OT   Offensive Tackle                  DE   Defensive End

  OG   Offensive Guard                   DT   Defensive Tackle

   C   Center

   K   Kicker

(Refer to the general football information file for more information about

these positions.)  There is a required number for each position during the

draft in order to make it possible to have a starting player for each

position in the game.  It is important to fill all these requirements for the

team (seen by pressing '0') as soon as possible.   It's also a good idea to

select more important players (QB, RB, WR, and TE) early because their

abilities play a bigger role in the game.

   The next step for creating a team is to set up its default plays.  A team's

plays usually depend on the skills of its players.  Teams with better

quarterbacks and receivers should use passing plays more often, while teams

with better runners should use running plays.  Defensive plays, although

partially based on a team's ability, also depend on the strategy of the team

it is playing.  For the description of the different offensive and defensive

Crunch League plays, refer to general football information.  It is possible to

refer to a team's list of players at any time by pressing '?'.

   The remaining questions for default plays are more specific.  They also

depend a great deal on the team's statistics.  The first question deals with

when to substitute players.  In order to switch players often, keeping them

fresh, the stamina level at which they are switched should be high.  This has

drawbacks, however, because the better players on a team will not be able to

play as much.  Finally, there are two questions dealing with kicking.  A team

will drive until the fourth down and then decide whether to kick or continue

driving.  If a team had a good kicker and a mediocre offense, they would want

to punt if they were more than a few yards away from the first down line at

the fourth down.  On the other hand, if they had a strong offense, they would

want to set the determining line further back.  The situation is similar for

kicking field goals, except it puts the team in relation to the end-zone.  A

team with a strong offense would have no reason to attempt a field goal within

twenty yards of the goal line, but a weak offense would.  The distance should

be too great either, especially if kicking or defense are not to good, because

the ball could be lost close to the kicking team's own end-zone.

   The last step for creating a Crunch League team is to set up its offensive

and defensive rosters.  Each player who can play and has not been chosen

already will be listed for each position.  After each name and number, the

player's abilities will be listed in parentheses in the same order they are in

on team lists (i.e. pass/receive/kick, block/run, tackle, stamina, balance).

Once the roster has been set up, the team is complete and ready to play Crunch

League Football!

The Menus

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   Crunch League Football is set up on a system of menus to make playing it as

simple a possible.  A menu selection is made by pressing the first letter of

the selection's title (e.g. press 's' for the S>ports Page).  The main menu

has a selection of several sub-menus, each one described in detail below.

Current and Default Setup

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Choosing these options from the main menu allows a coach to view, and change

if he wants to, his plays and rosters.  The current setup is the setup for

the next game.  This can be used in order to use a special strategy in the next

game.  After that game, however, the current plays and rosters will be reset to

the defaults.  Changing the default setup will change what the current setup

will revert to after the next game but NOT before then.  Changing plays and

rosters follows the same procedures as described above in setting up a team.

Help

~~~~

   Choosing the help option from the main menu will allow a coach to view

either this or the general football text file.

The Sports Page

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   The sports page menu allows a coach to view information about his and other

Crunch League teams.  It has several selections to choose from.  Current

rankings will display the rankings of Crunch League teams, by division, so far

in the season.  The record books are descriptions of Crunch League games

played so far in the season, divided by week.  By selecting the most recent

week, the coach can see exactly what happened to each team in the last Sunday's

games.  Choosing the schedule option will display the schedule of games for the

week specified.  At first, only the regular season's schedules will be listed,

but as the results of post-season games come in, later week's schedules will

be set up and can be displayed.  The final option, view team, allows a coach to

view the statistics of his and other teams.  After a team is chosen from the

list, information about the team's record and players' abilities will be

listed.  This option is helpful in setting up the strategy to use when playing

other teams.

How the Crunch League Works

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Every Sunday night, the games for the current week in the Crunch League are

played.  During the regular season, each team will play every other team in its

division twice, once at home and once away.  The outcome of each game is based

on several factors: the plays used by each team, the abilities of players on

each team, trends, and luck.  Each play is run individually, and important ones

are recorded in the game description.

   As soon as the regular season has ended, the playoffs begin.  The first

place teams of each division play each other in a kind of single elimination

tournament for the league championship.  If two or more teams are tied for

first place in their division, the team that will go on to the playoffs is

determined by a points gained:points given up ratio. If there is an odd number

of divisions in each league, a second place, wildcard team will be randomly

chosen to play as well.  If there is only one division, the first place team

is automatically made league champion.  The final game of the season is the

Superbowl.  The two league champions play one final game to determine the

Crunch League champion team.  If, of course, there is only one league, the

champion of that league is automatically made the Crunch League champion as

well. After the Super Bowl is over, the coveted Crunch League Most Valuable

Player award will go to the best player.

Play Crunch League Football!

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   Enjoy playing the Crunch League as much as you want.  Tell the sysop how

much you enjoy it and encourage him to register it.  Thanks for using this

fine CrunchWare product!