The controls are a 4-way joystick and 2 buttons. One button, the
lateral pass button, throws the ball straight left or straight right
in the direction you are moving the guy with the ball. The other
button, the forward pass button, throws the ball up the screen to the
player on your side with his hand raised. In either case, the path
the ball travels must not move through any unoccupied defenders.
<p>
Before the play, the forward reciever will run right to left across
the screen. Pressing the forward pass button will send him up the
screen to start the play, allowing you some control over the path
he'll take through the defense.
<p>
You are knocked down when you are grabbed by two players, hit by a
flying player, or grabbed a fourth time after shaking off three
players. To shake off a player that has grabbed on, shake or spin the
joystick. (similar to Kung Fu Master grabbers from T2) On a keyboard,
hit at least three of the movement keys quickly in a somewhat random
order. Either way, you don't need need to tap the pass buttons to
break a tackle quickly.
<p>
You can throw a forward pass as long as the ball has not moved past
the line between the two teams starting points, even after a lateral
pass.
<p>
You get four tries, called downs, to to move the ball far enough
forward. Before each try, a pair of numbers is displayed on the right
hand side of the screen. It will say something like "1st 10", "2cd
8", "4th 1" etc.. The first number is the down, the second number is
the number of yards to go. "4th 1" means it is your fourth (and last)
try and there is one yard left to go.
<p>
There is a small window on the right hand side of the screen that
shows your current field position. This window also shows a red line.
That red line shows where you have to reach to get a new cycle of
downs. The red area at the top of the window is the end zone.
<p>
After you reach the end zone, you will have an opportunity to score
bonus points. There will be an arrow moving back and forth under a U
shaped goal. The easiest way to score the 1,000 bonus points on this
play is to hold the joystick straight down and press the forward pass
button the third time the arrow moves under the goal. With a little
practice you will be able to do this every time ... getting the 1,000
points on this play isn't hard at all. Trying to get the 3,000 points
for running the ball into the endzone instead is very hard, so don't
worry about it.
<p>
The defense uses a fixed number of formations. Some formations are
more unpredictable than others, but basically if you find a method
that works against a certain formation it will work almost every time
against that formation. The key to ten yard fight is remembering what
to do against a large number of formations.
<p>
The ideal play - what gets the most points and preserves the most
clock time - on first down will include a forward pass and go about
12 yards total before being knocked down. You'll get 1,000 points for
the pass, 1,000 points and 10 seconds for making 10 yards on "1st
10", and only use 12 to 14 seconds on the clock for a net loss of 2
to 4 seconds. The reason for going 12 yards is so you will be visibly
past the red line in the right hand window ... it is possible to be
on the red line but be ruled short.
<p>
Ok. I think between the two of us that covers it.
<p>
Aqua
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aquatarkus@digicron.com