CHALKBOARD EDITOR

PlayMaker Football’s™ Chalkboard Editor is a sophisticated play creation environment that puts the power of football play design at your fingertips, allowing you to diagram plays just like the pros. These plays are stored in a "playbook" allowing the plays to be used in game situations.

To design plays in the Chalkboard Editor, you should first create your own team in the Team Draft (see the Team Draft section in this manual). Once you've created a team, you can design custom plays for it in the Chalkboard Editor.

Before you start designing your own plays it's probably a good idea to look at some of the playbooks included with PlayMaker Football™. In fact, one of the easiest ways to create a custom playbook is to copy one of the playbooks included with PlayMaker Football™ and make modifications to the existing plays.


GETTING STARTED

Before you can create plays you will need to get a team to execute your plays, and a playbook to save your plays in. If you have not yet created a team, please follow the instructions in the Team Draft section of this manual, or use one of the already created teams that come with the PlayMaker Football™.

  • At the main screen select Chalkboard Editor from the PlayMaker Football menu.
  • PlayMaker Football will attempt to automatically open the last playbook you used, or the default playbook. If it cannot find one of those playbooks, you will be prompted to select one of the playbooks available on the device.
  • You can choose a to work with a different playbook at any time by selecting Select Playbook... from the Chalkboard Editor menu.
  • When the playbook is loaded, the program will also attempt to automatically open the last team you used in the Chalkboard Editor, or a team with the same name as the the Playbook, or the default team. If it cannot find one of those teams, you will be prompted to select one of the teams available on the device.

    After the team and playbook load, the players will appear, lined up, on the chalkboard represented by their assigned symbols. When the screen first appears, the offense is at the bottom half, and the defense is at the top half.

    You will see a blank "chalkboard" on the screen and a palette of player instruction icons at the bottom of the screen. The solid line across the middle of the screen is the line of scrimmage. The dotted lines indicate 5 yard distances. The current play names for each side will be indicated on the field at the top and bottom of the screen.

    All plays that you create and save will be kept in your Playbook. Each playbook can hold about 250 plays.


    LOADING PLAYS

    If you are working with a playbook that already contains plays, you can load the plays so they appear on the chalkboard by taking the following steps:

  • Select Load Play... from either the Offense or Defense menu.
  • Tap the check boxes for the play category you want.
  • A list of plays will appear. Scroll through the list, and when you find the play you want tap the play name, then tap the Load button.
  • When the play has loaded, the name will appear on the chalkboard and the players will line up according to the play diagram.


    HOW PLAYS ARE DESIGNED

    When a coach creates a play for his team he draws a diagram with specific instructions for his players, so that when the play is run, each player knows exactly what he is supposed to do. Coordination, timing and teamwork are crucial, and a play may need to be practiced and refined many times before it is incorporated into the playbook.

    Using PlayMaker Football™'s Chalkboard Editor you can diagram plays in much the same way as an actual football coach does. The mouse is used to move individual players into their starting positions and to draw paths for them. The palette at the bottom of the screen contains icons which are used to assign detailed instructions to your players.

    Once you have moved your players into position and diagrammed paths and instructions for them, you can try the play on the Practice Field. If it isn't working quite right, you can go back to the Chalkboard, make the necessary modifications and try again on the Practice Field. When you're happy with the results you can save the play so it is a permanent part of your team's playbook.


    CHALKBOARD BASICS

    DISPLAY OPTIONS: Select Options from the File menu to adjust the Chalkboard Editor display.



    SELECTING PLAYERS: Plays are designed by assigning a series of patterns and/or instructions to individual players. To select a player to receive instructions, simply point to that player's symbol and tap it once. A small box will appear around the player's symbol, and if any patterns have already been assigned to him, they will also appear.

    To unselect a player simply tap on another player, or anywhere on the chalkboard.

    MOVING PLAYERS: The first step in designing a play is to move the players into a starting formation. Select the desired player, hold the stylus down and drag him to his new position on the field. Lift the stylus to place the player.

    PLAYER INFORMATION: To view a player's name and attributes, double-tap his symbol and his Info window will appear. When you are finished, tap the OK button.

    ALTERNATES: If a player can alternate with a substitute, the Alternate button will be active in his Info window. Tap the Alternate button to "bring in" the alternate. Tap the OK button to use the alternate player in the current play. The alternate player always switches with his counterpart starter. For example, if the kicker is brought in, the quarterback will go out.

    ASSIGNING INSTRUCTIONS: To assign instructions to a player, select him and tap on the desired icon. All player instructions are in the form of icons which are at the bottom of the chalkboard screen. To assign an instruction to a player simply select the player and tap on the desired instruction icon. Except for Pause, Shading, and the special case of Read Offense and Zone, only one instruction can be assigned to a player. However, you may assign several pattern segments to a player before giving him the instruction.

    PATTERNS: To assign a running pattern to any player, select the player and enter the shift keystroke. The shift indicator will appear in the instruction toolbar at the bottom. Move the stylus to the first intended destination, then press down the stylus. A line will appear indicating the path the player will take. As lond as the stylus is held down you can adjust the position of the line by moving the stylus. When you lift the pen the path will be placed.

    You can attach another path segment to the same player by repeating the steps for placement of the path. In this way, you can chain up to 10 path segments together for each player. You can also put enter the shift-lock keystrokes to speed the entry of multiple path segments for a given player.

    When a play is run, the player will simply follow the path you set for him. If a player reaches the end of his path during a play he will continue running in the same direction until the play ends. If a ball carrier reaches the end of his path he will try to continue gaining yards, evading tacklers as best he can.

    SCROLLING & ZOOMING THE CHALKBOARD: You can scroll the chalkboard up or down by pressing the scroll up and down keys to scroll the screen up or down respectively. You can scroll the screen left and right by pressing the "Address" and "To Do" keys respectively. Finally, you can automatically center the screen (on the line of scrimmage and the ball) by pressing the "Memo" button.

    The chalkboard will also scroll when dragging players and paths beyond the left, right top or bottom borders of the chalkboard.

    You can also Zoom out and back in by pressing the "Calendar" key. This allows you to change the screen view from the normal close up, detailed view, to one which appears farther away and shows more of the play. Of course the diagram is much smaller in this view. You can Zoom back in by pressing the key again.


    FORMATIONS AND PRE-DESIGNED PLAYS

    When a new playbook is created it already has several pre-designed special team plays, such as punts, punt returns, kickoffs, kick returns, PAT tries, etc. You are free to modify these plays or use them as they are.

    In addition to these plays, a new playbook also contains a variety of standard football formations for both offense and defense. These formations are classified in the Other category. The formations contain no player instructions, they merely provide a convenient way to get your players in position for each new play you design.

    After opening a playbook you can use the formations by following these steps:

  • Select Load Play from either the Offense or Defense menu.
  • Make sure the radio button next to Normal Play is selected, and tap on the Other check box.
  • You will see a list of play names. Scroll down to the bottom of the list until you see a series of names labeled "Formation" and enclosed in brackets. These are formations without any player instructions. To load a formation select a "Formation" play and tap the Load button.
  • Once the formation is loaded, you can assign instructions to the players, and even move the players on the chalkboard to modify the formation. When you are ready to save the play, select Save Play As... in the Offense or Defense menu (whichever is appropriate) and name the play. Make sure you save it under the appropriate play category.



  • PRACTICE FIELD

    To make sure your plays work correctly it's a good idea to try them out on the Practice Field.

  • From the chalkboard select Practice Field... in the File menu.
  • The view will switch from the chalkboard to the playing field, and you'll see the players line up according to their assigned positions on the chalkboard (if you haven't diagrammed or loaded any plays yet, select Load Play from the Offense and Defense menus).

  • To run a play, tap the field or enter a Space or Enter keystroke.
  • When the play ends, the players will line up again, ready to try once more. You may want to run a play several times, since the outcome won't always be the same each time, due to a variety of random events, including players slipping, missing blocks, etc.

  • You can terminate a play at any time simply by entering a backspace keystroke.
  • HASH MARKS IN PRACTICE: The Practice Field lets you try out your plays from the center of the field, or either hash mark. You can set the hash mark that the ball will be centered on in the Practice Options Dialog by selecting Options Info... under the File menu.

    DIFFERENT OPPOSING PLAYS: If you are trying out a new offensive play you will probably want to see how it performs against different defenses, and for a new defense you will want to test it against different offenses. While your team is on the Practice Field you can load different offensive and defensive plays by selecting Load Play... in either the Defense or Offense menus.

    SNAPPING THE BALL: To snap the ball on the Practice Field, tap the field or enter a Space or Enter keystroke.

    STOPPING A PLAY: To terminate a play before the ball carrier is tackled, enter a backspace keystroke.

    BACK TO THE CHALKBOARD EDITOR: You can leave the Practice Field and return to the Chalkboard Editor at any time simply by selecting Practice Field in the File menu (this "turns off" the Practice Field).

    OPTIONS: You can configure a variety of conditions on the Practice Field by selecting Options Info... in the File menu while the Practice Field is on the screen.

    PENALTIES: It's a good idea to test all of your plays on the Practice Field with the Penalties option turned on, so you can eliminate any illegal formation, offsides and ineligible man downfield penalties before you play a game.

    SINGLE STEP: This option allows you to view a play one step at a time. When this option is selected, enter a Space or Enter keystroke to advance the play one step. This is a good way to observe individual players and complex blocking schemes in action.


    SAVING PLAYS

    Once you have finished working on a play you should save it to your playbook so it can be used in a game or called up for later modification.

  • When you are done working with a play, select Save Play As... in the Offense or Defense menu, whichever corresponds to the kind of play you want to save, and the Save window will appear.
  • PLAY NAME: The play must have a name in order for you to save it. Simply position the cursor at the text box and type a name.

    PLAY CATEGORY: Before you can save a play it must also be assigned to a particular category. Just below the play name box are two buttons and a series of check boxes. Each button activates a different set of check boxes. The Normal Play button activates the Run, Pass, and Other check boxes. The Situation Play button activates the EP, Kickoff and Safety check boxes.

    When the appropriate button is selected, simply check the box, or boxes, which are appropriate for the play you are saving.

    To assign a play to the Run category for example, tap the Normal Play button, then tap the Run check box. You can tap more than one active check box if you want to save the play under more than one category.

    The categories make it easy to search for plays when playing a game, and in the case of Situation Plays, define the play type for the computer coach.

    Making Changes to Preexisting Plays: If you make changes to a play that's already saved, and you don't want to alter the play category, name or strategy settings, simply select Save Play in the Offense or Defense menu. The newly altered version of the play will replace the existing version on the device and all other settings will remain the same.


    RENAME PLAY

    If you want to change the name of a play that has already been saved to a playbook, follow these steps:

  • To change the name of a play it must first be loaded into the Chalkboard Editor.
  • Select Rename Play in the Offense or Defense menu (whichever is appropriate).
  • Type a new name for the play.
  • Tap Rename to change the name.



  • SHORTCUTS

    Many of the commands mentioned here, as well as the Offensive and Defensive Play Instructions described in the following sections, have keystroke shortcuts associated with them. You don't have pull down a menu or tap a button to activate the command or instruction - just enter the keystroke.

    The following is a list of keystrokes and their associated command or instruction:

    a - Defensive Rush (Attack)
    b - Block
    c - Copy to clipboard
    d - Show Defensive Instructions
    f - Fake Pass
    g - Catch (Grab)
    i - Player Info
    k - Kick
    l - Read Offense (Linebacking instructions)
    m - Man-to-Man Coverage
    n - Reciever Priority (Number)
    o - Show Offensive Instructions
    p - Pause
    r - Shade
    s - Strong Side
    t - Transfer Ball
    v - Paste from clipboard
    x - Cut to clipboard
    z - Zone Coverage
    backspace - Snip

    Both upper or lowercase keystrokes are recognized when entering these commands or instructions. These commands also allow you to hide the toolbar while retaining the ability to enter instructions.