_ __ __ __ /\ /\ | / | \ /\ | | /\ /\ | | | | | | | | |__/ | | | |__ | | | _ | | |__ | | | | | | \ | | | | |--| | | | | | | | | | \_ | \ \/ |__ |__ | | \/ \_/ |__ __ _____ __ _ | /\ /\ | |O \ /\ | | / \ |__ | | | | | | _/ | | | | / * | | | | | | ||_)\ |--| | | / * | \/ \/ | |___/ | | |__ |__ /___ THE COACH'S CHALLENGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [INTRO] Introduction [MODES] Modes of Play [CONTR] Controls [TEAMS] Team Guides [COMMI] The Commissioner [QUEST] Frequently Asked Questions [VERSN] Version History [COPYR] Copyright [CONTC] Contact Information Navigation tip: Press Ctrl and F to bring down a search bar. Then type in the name of the section you're looking for - like [CONTR] for the Controls. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introduction [INTRO] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the NFL Draft just over, VinnyVideo's returning to the gridiron. This may be an unusual game to select for a walkthrough, but it's strongly deserving of one. MicroLeague Football 2: The Coach's Challenge isn't going to be a hit with the joystick-thumping, button-mashing arcade types, but if you like strategy and the ability to customize the teams, you're going to like it. You can even play two-player games fairly easily. I haven't been producing much walkthrough material lately; I've been updating a few of my previous guides, playing games that I don't intend to write walkthroughs for, and spending some time in Real Life. But don't worry, as a whole bunch of new guides should be coming in May 2008. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Modes of Play [MODES] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you launch the FB2 program, the opening screen gives you four options to choose from. ---Play a Game--- This lets you play a game using the teams of your choice. First select the teams from the league(s) you want. After that, you can change various options at the Game Options screen, such as game length (15, 10, or 5 minutes). 15- minute games are pretty long, so you may want something shorter. You can also choose between single or unlimited overtime (the latter is good for playoffs) and perfect, rainy, and cold/windy/rainy weather. Rainy weather hurts your passing game, while cold, windy, and rainy weather affects almost everything. I highly recommend choosing "expert menus" instead of "graphic menus" or "playbooks," at least for experienced players. You must also decide whether you want a Normal or Quick game and whether it will be Exhibition or League play. A quick game will be simulated in a few seconds, while a Normal game allows you to watch every play. A League game's stats can be compiled to a season in progress, but for those purposes, using League Play is much easier. You can select the computer's strength level (discussed in the FAQ section) for computer-controlled player(s). Lastly, you can select different team(s) if you made a mistake earlier. After you've set all the desired options, select "Play New Game" (unless you have a game in progress you want to resume, and then you should select "Load Saved Game"). From here, pick out your lineups (try to use some degree of player rotation, use a back with good hands in the Shotgun, and select good pass-defending linebackers and your best pass-rushing defensive linemen in the Nickel), and then get ready for some football! At the end of the game, you can view, print, and/or save game stats. ---League Play--- In League Play, first select a .LEA file. You'll then be taken to the latest week that has unplayed games. There's a very good chance you'll want to press F1 to simulate all games that don't involve a human player. However, you can click on games to manually play or simulate each game individually. Note that the pre-game screen won't have as many options as usual, since those are determined by the current League Editor settings. Press F3 to resume a game in progress, and press F4 if you want to review a .BOX file or compile it to your league. Remember that league play only works with .LEA files, not the .FB2 files that come with the game. If you want to play a season with the .FB2 teams, copy all the teams to a new .LEA file using FBGMO. ---Quick Season--- Quick Season allows you to simulate a season very quickly. Contrary to what the manual says, this won't take anywhere close to 15 minutes on any semi-recent computer. This feature only works if you've generated a schedule for the league you're simulating. Also, remember that running a Quick Season wipes out any stats for your season in progress. If your league has active stats that you don't want to lose, initialize a new league and run the Quick Season on that league. ---Utilities--- Initialize League creates a new league. You can decide the number of divisions (1, 2, or 6) and the name of the league and any divisions. Add Teams to League allows you to copy teams from one league into another league. Remember that .FB2 files can't be the "destination" league. Delete Teams from League removes a team from a league. You can also use it to clear a team's season statistics. Be careful when using this option, since it can't be undone. League Standings shows the standings of the specified season in progress. You can print this data or save it to a file. It's not useful if you haven't played any season games. Print Team Stats displays a team's statistics for league play. Again, you can save or print this information, and it's useful only if you have a season in progress. Print Team Roster lets you view any team's roster with the option of printing it or saving it to disk. Review Boxscore is used to view .BOX files. League Editor performs many important operations related to season play. You can select which teams are controlled by human players (and enter their names), change computer coaches' strength levels, adjust league rules (such as whether or not you want injuries), and view or edit a team's schedule. You can also get the computer to automatically generate a schedule, but remember this feature works only if the league is set up with a proper number of teams. Playbook Editor sets up or edits playbooks. While playbooks can make a few things easier (for example, frequently changing between a three-man and four- man line), I very much prefer Expert Menus over playbooks. ---FB GMO--- FBGMO is a separate utility that comes with most versions of the game. If you have FBGMO, remember that it may be located in its own directory. Some (but not all) of these options are the same as the league utilities. Note that you can only edit .LEA files you create yourself; you can't edit the .FB2 files that come with the game. Update Existing Team is used to modify teams. Create New Team creates a new blank team in the league of your choice. Initialize a New League creates a new league. Trade Players sounds kind of neat, especially for fantasy leagues. Unfortunately, you can only trade players who play the same position, since every roster must have the same number of players. The "Move" feature really just lets you copy players between teams. Also, you can only trade players between teams of the same league. Copy Teams is the quickest way of adding teams to your league. This copies (not cuts) a team from one league to another. Delete a Team removes a team from a league. You can't undo this, so be careful when using the Delete a Team option. Also, this option can't be used to clear season stats. Print Team Roster displays the roster of the team of your choice. From there, you can save a text file of the roster to your computer, or you can print it out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Controls [CONTR] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Offense (expert menus): 0 - Run 0 - QB Sneak 1 - Split Backs 1 - HB 1 - Sweep Strong 2 - Short Yardage 2 - HB 2 - Trap Strong 3 - Two TE 3 - FL* 3 - Dive Strong 4 - Four Receiver 4 - Draw 5 - Shotgun 5 - Sweep Weak 6 - Trap Weak 7 - Dive Weak 8 - Power Sweep Strong 9 - Power Sweep Weak 1 - Flare Pass 0 - Screen Pass 1 - Split Backs 1 - SE 1 - Square Out 2 - Short Yardage 2 - FL 2 - Square In 3 - Two TE 3 - TE 3 - Hook 4 - Four Receiver 4 - HB 4 - Slant 5 - Shotgun 5 - FB 5 - 2-Minute Drill 2 - Short Pass 1 - Square Out 1 - Split Backs 1 - SE 2 - Square In 2 - Short Yardage 2 - FL 3 - Hook 3 - Two TE 3 - TE 4 - Post 4 - Four Receiver 4 - HB 5 - 2-Minute Drill 5 - Shotgun 5 - FB 3 - Long Pass 1 - Flag 1 - Split Backs 1 - SE 2 - Post 2 - Short Yardage 2 - FL 3 - Hook & Go 3 - Two TE 3 - TE 4 - Fly 4 - Four Receiver 4 - HB 5 - 2-Minute Drill 5 - Shotgun 5 - FB 4 - Special 1 - Punt 2 - Punt Inside 20 3 - Field Goal 4 - Kill the Clock 5 - Random (Any play) 6 - Random (Run) 7 - Random (Pass) Example: Type in 2142 to throw a Short Square Out pattern from the Four Receiver formation to the flanker. The flanker can only run the ball when you call the Sweep Weak (Flank Reverse) play. Formation doesn't matter. Note that some formations don't have a particular position. For example, if you select a Short Post to the FB in the Four Receiver formation, the pass will go to the third WR - the replacement for the FB in that formation. Defense (expert menus): 1 - Goal Line Defense 1 - Blitz ORLB 1 - Key HB 2 - Rush Aggressively 2 - Blitz IRLB 2 - Key FB 3 - Guard Inside Run 3 - Blitz ILLB 3 - Rush Punter 4 - Guard Outside Run 4 - Blitz OLLB 4 - Safety Blitz 5 - Short Zone 5 - Double Team SE 6 - Deep Zone 6 - Double Team TE 7 - Five Defensive Backs 7 - Double Team FL 8 - Guard Out Pass 8 - Double Team FL2 9-1 - Random (Any Play) 9-2 - Random (Run Defense) 9-3 - Coach (Pass Defense) Defensive play-calling is made up mostly of toggles. Press Spacebar or Keypad Plus (depending on whether you're the visiting or home team) after entering as many or as few selections from each column. You can even press Spacebar or Plus three times to call a very basic defensive setup. Example: Type 3, 7, +, 1, 5, +, and 1 to call a Nickel defense that guards the inside run, blitzes the ORLB, double-covers the split end, and keys the halfback. Other options: / Switch between a 3-4 and a 4-3 defense T Call timeout V Make substitutions for visiting team H Make substitutions for home team A View statistics for visiting team L View statistics for home team B View boxscore of current game with option to print or save it Q Quick-play the rest of the current game Alt-X End game with the options of saving it to resume it later K Change keypad mode* G Toggle graphics on/off (off makes the game faster) J Toggle lineup windows on/off S Toggle sound on/off Visitor Home Menu selections Keyboard 0-9 Keypad 0-9 Flip Diagrams Tab Keypad Del Flip Lineups Minus key Keypad Minus key Enter selection Spacebar Keypad Plus key * If you don't have a numeric keypad, this changes the keypad numbers to the F- keys, Del to Backspace, the keypad minus to minus, and the plus key to Enter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Team Guides [TEAMS] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 1990 Atlanta Falcons aren't great in any particular area. The 1990 Buffalo Bills have a great team overall. Every position on the field is at least average. The 1990 Chicago Bears feature a good running back, an outstanding offensive line, and an excellent front seven. The 1990 Cincinnati Bengals have a good rushing game, but quarterback Boomer Esiason throws way too many interceptions. The defensive line is terrible, and the linebackers are also weak at most spots. The 1990 Cleveland Browns have a shaky passing game, despite having a good receiver. Not a very good team. The 1990 Dallas Cowboys were just getting good again in 1990. There's a truckload of good receivers, but weaknesses in other areas prevent the Cowboys from being among the very best. The 1990 Denver Broncos are led by superstar quarterback John Elway and a deep, solid receiving corps. The defense isn't much good, but the Broncos do have a good kick returner. The 1990 Detroit Lions make big plays with superstar halfback Barry Sanders and their innovative Run 'n' Shoot offense. The players who aren't at "skill positions" are average or worse. The 1990 Green Bay Packers were nearing the end of the pre-Brett Favre era. Sterling Sharpe is a superb wide receiver, and the offensive line is very strong. The linebackers and secondary are also full of talent. The 1990 Houston Oilers were another adoptee of the Run 'n' Shoot offensive system. Warren Moon is one of the best quarterbacks of the time, in part because the receivers are the best in the 1990 NFL. The offensive line isn't much good, but the Oilers' defense is quite strong, especially in the secondary. The 1990 Indianapolis Colts have two good running backs, two good receivers, and two standout linemen, but the defense and quarterbacking isn't enough to contend for the playoffs. The 1990 Kansas City Chiefs are led by a superb running game and a play-it-safe quarterback. Better yet, the Chiefs have an outstanding defense with an intimidating pass rush. The 1990 Los Angeles Raiders have two fine running backs, some "big-play" receivers, and a very tough defense. Overall, L.A. AFC is a pretty strong team. The 1990 Los Angeles Rams have two 1,000-yard receivers and a decent line despite weak guard play. The defensive front seven isn't bad, but the secondary is very weak. The 1990 Miami Dolphins have a great quarterback, but an unremarkable rushing game and a so-so offensive line will keep their offense stoppable. Also, their defense is merely average. The 1990 Minnesota Vikings have several excellent receivers, but at this point in his career, Rich Gannon (not Link's nemesis in Zelda games) wasn't a good enough quarterback to get the ball into their hands. The defense is pretty good, especially in the secondary. The 1990 New England Patriots are a terrible team that was rocked by scandal. The rushing game is decent, but the Patriots will probably be relying on their weak quarterbacks a lot after falling behind early. The receivers and line are pretty good, but the defense - especially the defensive backs - is atrocious. The real 1990 Patriots won only one game. The 1990 New Orleans Saints look mediocre across the board, but nothing is too terrible. The backfield is run by committee, and the o-line is quite weak. The 1990 New York Giants have a pretty good running game and a very dependable quarterback. What's more, a strong offensive line and an unstoppable defense will be enough to put this team in the Super Bowl. The 1990 New York Jets have a wide selection of good running backs, but the passing game isn't great. Also, the defensive line and linebackers are quite weak. The Jets boast two very talented defensive backs. The 1990 Philadelphia Eagles have an unremarkable passing game, but their quarterback sure can run! The offensive line isn't great, but the defensive line and linebackers are quite strong. The 1990 Phoenix Cardinals have a poor passing game, an unremarkable offensive line, and a very weak defense. This is one of the weakest teams in the game. The 1990 Pittsburgh Steelers don't have a bad passing game, but they focus on tough, grind-it-out running. The front seven is fairly strong, and don't try to pass against the fearsome secondary. The 1990 San Diego Chargers' mediocre passing game is centered around one effective wide receiver. If you use this team, you'll probably want to keep the ball on the ground. The defense seems to put up pretty good numbers despite a lack of stars. The 1990 San Francisco 49ers have the best passing game in the 1990 NFL thanks to Joe Montana and Jerry Rice (and other receivers, too). The running game isn't great, but who needs them when you have this kind of offensive line and defense? The 1990 Seattle Seahawks don't have any glaring weaknesses, but it's hard to find much to really like about this team. The 1990 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were one of the worst teams in the NFL around this time, although this year's team is better than some. Vinny Testaverde wasn't as bad a quarterback as people thought he was, but no position is particularly good. The 1990 Washington Redskins are led by a tough running game and a deep group of receivers. Quarterback Mark Rypien hardly sparkled, but he got the job done (at least for a few years). The offensive line is excellent, and the defense is also quite good. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The 1958 Baltimore Colts make big plays with the great Johnny Unitas at quarterback. There are stars at receiver and running back, and the offensive line and defense are also very strong. The 1960 Philadelphia Eagles have an excellent but risk-prone quarterback in Norm Van Brocklin. There are some good receivers, but the backs are less effective, and the offensive line, defensive line, and linebackers aren't very good. The defense's main strength is the defensive backs, who will pick up a lot of interceptions. The 1963 San Diego Chargers have a great passing game, a lights-out rushing game, and an effective offensive line. The kick returners are very good as well. The weak linebacking corps may give up a lot of points, though. The 1964 Buffalo Bills have the ultimate in the bombs-away AFL offense; the quarterbacks complete less than 45% of their passes, but when an offensive player catches the ball, you can expect a 20-yard gain. The defense is quite strong, although not necessarily very deep. The 1964 Cleveland Browns have a good kick returner, a deadly offensive line, a strong defensive line, and a fine secondary. However, this tough team is centered around deadly running back Jim Brown. The 1966 Green Bay Packers are led by quarterback Bart Starr, who generates amazing "yards per attempt" figures. The rushing game doesn't make big plays, despite the strong offensive line. The defense is outstanding, and the secondary will pick up a lot of interceptions. The 1968 New York Jets feature "Broadway Joe" Namath and two 1,000-yard receivers. While most fans remember this team for Joe Namath, you'll realize that the offensive line and defense are quite strong. The 1969 Kansas City Chiefs used two good quarterbacks about equally and had a fearsome running attack. Don't overlook the fact that the Chiefs had one of the best kickers of their time. The offensive line and defense are extremely strong despite the weak bench. The 1971 Dallas Cowboys are tough to stop in the air, and their rushing game and offensive line are also pretty good. The Cowboys defense is very strong, especially against the run. The 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated by running... and running... and running again. This team ran twice for every time they passed, and two backs rushed for 1,000 yards. The offensive line is very strong, and the defense is one of the best in the game. The 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers have an outstanding offense thanks to quarterback Terry Bradshaw and running back Franco Harris. The Steelers also have a tough offensive line, a punishing front seven, and an impenetrable secondary. The 1976 Oakland Raiders, coached by John Madden (who didn't just announce football games and make video games), have a reliable quarterback and a crushing rushing game. The offensive line is led by Gene Upshaw and Art Shell (two names you might recognize), although there isn't much depth. It's tough to run against the Raiders' defense, and passing won't be any easier. The 1977 Dallas Cowboys still have an outstanding quarterback, a tough rushing game, and a good offensive line. The defensive line is definitely going to put pressure on quarterbacks, and it won't be easy getting past the defensive backs. The 1982 Washington Redskins have a reliable quarterback despite the lack of superstar receivers. The running game keeps grinding down defenses. The offensive line is excellent, and the defense is also good. The 1983 Miami Dolphins are built around a great young quarterback named Dan Marino. The rushing game isn't as impressive as some. The offensive line is good, but the defense doesn't quite have what it takes to be one of the all- time best. The 1984 San Francisco 49ers are built around quarterback Joe Montana, but don't overlook the surprisingly effective running backs. The offensive line is solid despite the lack of stars. The defense isn't as good as most of the all- time teams, but the defensive line will definitely hurry quarterbacks. The 1985 Chicago Bears have an unremarkable passing game, but running back Walter Payton and the defense are more than enough to take the Bears to the Super Bowl. The 1986 Cleveland Browns feature a very good quarterback, an unremarkable committee of running backs, a good offensive line, and a fairly tough defense. The 1986 Denver Broncos don't have much of a rushing game, so John Elway carries most of the offensive workload. The offensive line isn't very good. A strong secondary makes up for a less-than-spectacular front seven. The 1986 New York Giants have a strong passing attack built around the tight end, in addition to a great running back, a respectable line, and a strong defense (especially because of Lawrence Taylor). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Commissioner [COMMI] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MicroLeague Football 2: The Coach's Challenge uses "off-disk copy protection." Before you can load the game, you must enter the first word of a certain line in the manual. You can usually use this chart to find out the proper password. I don't encourage people to make unauthorized copies of software, but this graph can be very helpful if you've lost your manual or don't want to get it every time you start the program. While MicroLeague Football 2 is a very old program, and MicroLeague itself has long gone out of business, I may be willing to remove this section if you ask clearly in an e-mail message (see the Contact Information section). LINE PAGE WORD 4 2 ratings 4 3 MicroLeague 8 3 football 12 3 playbooks 18 3 game 2 8 league 4 8 compile 12 8 coach 20 8 league 1 9 have 9 13 between 1 17 another 2 17 toggle 1 18 each 2 18 abilities 5 18 used 6 18 the 7 18 selections 8 18 for 9 18 you 10 18 compared 11 18 with 12 18 goal 13 18 the 19 18 will 3 24 expert 4 26 in 1 29 formation 2 29 press 3 29 available 4 29 pressing 1 38 once 18 38 screen 1 41 place ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frequently Asked Questions [QUEST] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q: How can I get more teams for MicroLeague Football? A: Use the GMO program that comes with the game to create or modify teams or leagues. Statistics for older teams can be found at many NFL teams' Web sites and at Pro-Football-Reference.com (my preferred source). The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia and the older Neft, Cohen, & Korch Pro Football Sports Encyclopedia are good print sources. I've created teams for several recent seasons, and I might send them to you if you ask in a polite way (see Contact Information), especially if you're going to post them on your Web site. Q: Why doesn't my game run right? A: In all likelihood, you need to restart your computer in MS-DOS mode for the game to run properly. You can still run the GMO, look at statistics, play quick games, etc. in Windows mode, but playing a game will usually cause your computer to crash if it's not in DOS mode. Q: Should I use a 4-3 or 3-4 defense? A: It depends mostly on the team. If your team has two good defensive tackles, run a 4-3. If you have a deep corps of linebackers, use a 3-4. The 3-4 defense is considered the default in MicroLeague Football, because when the game was made, the 3-4 was used by most teams in football (a state that has occurred only a few times in NFL history). You may want to refer to sources like the ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia or Pro-Football-Reference.com to find out which teams used which defense in a particular season. Q: What's the difference between the Sack and Pass Rush Ability ratings for defensive linemen? A: I'm not quite sure. I think players with a high Sack rating frequently squash the quarterback, while plays with high PRA can hurry the quarterback and increase the chances of an incomplete pass or interception. As a side note, I'm a little unsure about how to calculate the following statistics: QB Sack %, QB Scramble %, RB Fumble %, Punter IN20, FG +50, and DEF PEN%. In case you didn't know, FP% is the percentage of time the coach calls a flare pass, and SP% is the short pass percentage. The leftover is long passes. You may want to adjust these numbers, especially for bomb-oriented AFL teams and today's fashionable West Coast Offense. Q: What are the differences between the formations? A: Split Backs is the default formation. It has two receivers and a tight end, with the two running backs lined up next to each other. Four Receiver has the quarterback lined up under center, but a third receiver replaces the fullback. This is more pass-oriented, but you can still run. Shotgun is similar to Four Receiver, but the quarterback takes the snap a few yards behind the center. This helps the passing game but usually isn't good for running. Two Tight End replaces your split end with a second tight end. This is usually good for running, especially in short-yardage situations. Short Yardage replaces your flanker with a halfback. This is also good for the running game. The Green Bay Packers use something like this occasionally. Q: What are the differences between the three levels of coaches? A: An Easy Coach uses a simple game plan. An Average Coach will blitz but won't use double coverage. A Tough Coach uses both the blitz and double coverage. Also, the game's manual says that a Tough Coach will try to predict the plays you'll call, but I don't think it remembers plays you've called in certain situations; instead, I think it just tries to guess a likely play you'll call in a specific situation (for example, it will use a Nickel defense on third down and 13). Q: My game box says the game includes teams for the 1991 season, but I only have the 1990 and classic teams. How do I access the 1991 teams? A: I'm sorry, but you're only going to be disappointed in life if you expect truth in advertising. There are no 1991 teams included with the game, although you can create them yourself. Also, the game manual shows teams based on the 1986 season - and there's no 1986 season included with the game. Q: How long does each play last? A: According to the manual: 5 seconds: Punt (fair catch or return), field goal 15 seconds: Incomplete pass, sack, interception, two-minute drill pass (complete or incomplete) 30 seconds: Kickoff, complete pass, fumble Q: How can I set up 32-team leagues? A: You can't. You can't even set up 30-team leagues and still generate a schedule. If you want to create a league with 32 teams, you'll have to split it up into two separate 16-team files with six divisions each (two of which will be empty in each league). Q: The statistics that appear while setting up lineups are inaccurate. Why? A: This is a programming glitch. I recommend printing a copy of the team rosters and using those while making lineup changes. Remember that when numbers are joined by a slash, the first number is always inside and the second is outside. Q: Games seem to have a lot of field goals. Why? A: MicroLeague Football tends to generate pretty good offense that often falters near the end zone. I find this is especially true when using lineups for modern teams, which usually have a much better kicking game than teams of old. I often set my red zone offense just a little higher than the red zone defense when creating new leagues. Q: Box scores display the wrong team names when I play games between teams of different leagues. How can I prevent this? A: There's not much you can do about this unless you copy one of the teams into the other league. Q: The computer sometimes stops using its starting running backs and only uses its backups, even if they had very few rushing attempts. Why is this? A: I'm not sure. It seems to happen most often when using newer teams, which often have one back running 300 times and the others not running much at all. Q: What are raw stats? A: The GMO manual does a poor job of explaining this. "Raw stats" are things like rushing touchdowns and receiving yards; non-raw stats are statistics such as yards per carry that will be affected by the use of the "AutoCalc" feature. Personally, I only use AutoCalc on the Team Stats screen, because AutoCalc fails to round numbers properly elsewhere. Q: How can I delete a league or saved game? A: MicroLeague Football doesn't delete files. To delete any files created by the game, such as leagues or saved games, you'll have to use the delete feature of DOS or Windows. Q: What's the difference between a .BOX and a .ASC file? A: An .ASC file is a box score that shows the results of a game. It can be understood by Notepad or any other text editor. A .BOX file can only be read by MicroLeague Football. You can merge a .BOX file with a league file, which allows people to play out a season at several different locations. Q: Would it be a good idea to install the game to my hard drive? A: Definitely. Floppy drives are much slower than hard drives, and floppy disks (especially those that are 15-20 years old) tend to become corrupt over time. If you're still playing this program - or any other one - from a floppy disk, I highly recommend copying the files to your hard drive and running the game from your fixed disk. Q: Why does the opening screen show a University of Michigan football player? A: I don't know why, but it's obviously a Michigan football helmet. There aren't any college teams in this game, although it's possible you could add college, high school, arena, NFL Europe, Canadian, or Australian rules teams to MicroLeague Football if you could find the statistics. Q: What other notes and tips do you have for this game? A: Here are a few other notes and tips I've found: * Know the strengths and weaknesses of both your team and your opponents. For example, if your RT and TE have outside blocking ratings of 2, and the opposing DLE and OLLB have outside run defense ratings of 5, don't run Sweep Strong very frequently. * Although players don't tire out much in this game (even in long seasons), you may want to set up some form of player rotation in the lineup screen. * The game makes you use the graphical menus on kickoffs, even if you use playbooks or expert menus. Don't forget to use the onside kick and squib kick from time to time (press 2 or 3, respectively). * You can insert a wide receiver at the tight end position, but you can't play a tight end at wide receiver. * If you use a 4-3 defense, blitzing the IRLB will have the same effect as blitzing the ILLB. * If you're using the FBGMO to enter a team that uses a 4-3 defense, remember that the starting MLB should play IRLB. * If you're going to be playing MicroLeague Football a lot, you may want to associate the .ASC file type with Notepad or another word processor (when you open an .ASC file, just tell Windows that you want to use Notepad every time you open this type of file). * Also, if you're going to be printing a lot of box scores and team rosters, you may want to copy the text to Microsoft Word or another word processor and shrink the text, change the margins, set up columns, and/or eliminate blank spaces so you can fit several lineups on a page. Also, a modern printer will print such a page from Windows much more quickly than from MicroLeague Football itself. * I always use FBGMO's AutoCalc feature to calculate the percentage of time a back runs the ball, someone catches a pass, or the team calls a running play. To be most precise, I use AutoCalc from the Team Stats section. I don't use it to calculate stats like QB Completion Percentage because it doesn't round numbers properly. * To save a team in FBGMO, just close the main window and you'll be prompted to save. * League standings and schedules are stored in the .LEA files themselves. For this reason, if it's important for you not to change the date the file was last modified, you might want to keep a copy of the files in another directory. * The game and manual call strong safeties (SS) the tight safety (TS). * The game and manual always list players from right to left. Normally the leftmost players (for example, the left tackle) are listed first in real life. * The average player on a non-classic team will probably have ratings of between 3 and 4 (3.3-3.6). * The "Micro League" logo found in the middle of the field is obviously a rip- off of the NFL logo. * The manual that comes with the game is one of the worst pieces of professionally-printed literature I've ever seen (terrible grammar, incoherent explanations, etc.). * A few player names are victims of typographical errors, such as C. Peete, who is supposed to be 1990 Detroit Lions quarterback Rodney Peete. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version History [VERSN] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date | Version | Size | --------|---------|------|----------------------------------------------------- 4-25-08 | 0.1 | 10KB | Began guide. 4-27-08 | 0.3 | 17KB | Completed 1990 team summaries. 4-28-08 | 0.7 | 35KB | Completed classic team summaries and more. 4-29-08 | 1.0 | 41KB | Finished things up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright [COPYR] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (c) 2008 Vinny Hamilton. All rights reserved. All trademarks mentioned in this guide are copyrights of their respective holders. You can print this guide out for your personal use. You can download this guide to your computer for your personal use. You can post this guide on your Web site as long as you give proper credit AND you don't change a single letter, number, or symbol (not even a tilde). Remember that the latest version will always be available at GameFAQs.com, but don't count on there being frequent (if any) updates. You can translate this guide into a foreign language (British, Southern, Australian, and New Yorker are not considered foreign languages) and post the translation on your Web site as long as you ask permission first. You can't post this guide on your Web site and then say you wrote the guide yourself. You can't post this guide on Web sites that contain (or have links to sites that contain) explicit depictions of naked humans (also known as pornography), racism, gambling, or flattery of totalitarian regimes. You can't post this guide on your Web site if you're going to change anything in this guide that took me so many hours to write. If you don't comply with these guidelines, your hard drive will be reformatted inexplicably and you will suffer from constipation for the rest of your life. Heed this warning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact Information [CONTC] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have any questions or comments about this guide, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. That's zero-zero-two, by the way. Remember that not all e-mail messages will be read. Please follow these guidelines: Do include "MicroLeague" in the subject line. Do send polite suggestions for ways to make this walkthrough better. Do tell me about any errors or omissions you find. Do send information about any glitches, tricks, or codes you discover. Do ask any questions you have about MicroLeague Football 2: The Coach's Challenge gameplay. I will respond eventually if you follow all of these rules. Do tell me if you want a copy of a league I've created, especially if it's to share with the the world. Do make a reasonable effort to use decent spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation, and capitalization so that I can understand what you're trying to say. Do use patience. I check my messages quite sporadically. Do not ask for technical support except as a last resort. Do not send spam, pornography, chain letters, "flaming," or anything that contains profanity or vulgarity. Again, violating this rule will result in deletion of the message and permanent constipation. ******************************************************************************* Current list of VinnyVideo guides available on GameFAQs.com and Neoseeker.com: F1 ROC: Race of Champions FAQ/Walkthrough F1 ROC II: Race of Champions FAQ/Walkthrough SimCity 3000 Walkthrough/Strategy Guide Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing FAQ/Walkthrough Kyle Petty's No Fear Racing Strategy Guide/FAQ Madden NFL '96 (SNES) Strategy Guide/FAQ Madden NFL '98 (SNES) Strategy Guide/FAQ Madden NFL '97 (SNES) Strategy Guide/FAQ ESPN SpeedWorld (SNES) Strategy Guide/FAQ The Oregon Trail: Fifth Edition (PC) FAQ/Walkthrough The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest Low-Spoiler FAQ/Walkthrough Off Road Challenge (N64) FAQ/Walkthrough F-1 World Championship Edition (SNES) FAQ/Walkthrough Donkey Kong 64 FAQ/Walkthrough Where in America's Past is Carmen Sandiego FAQ/Walkthrough Michael Andretti's Indy Car Challenge FAQ/Walkthrough Mario Open Golf (Japan) FAQ/Walkthrough Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES) FAQ/Walkthrough MicroLeague Football 2: The Coach's Challenge Strategy Guide/FAQ ******************************************************************************* Proposed future guides: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (GBA) FAQ/Walkthrough The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Low-Spoiler FAQ/Walkthrough The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Low-Spoiler FAQ/Walkthrough The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Low-Spoiler FAQ/Walkthrough Scooby-Doo: Unmasked! (GBA) FAQ/Walkthrough Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (PC) FAQ/Walkthrough And lastly, a public service message: Fight for and affirm the rights of all humans, regardless of race, age, or creed! And... Don't forget to eat your five fruits and vegetables today. No one's going to read this, anyway.