AFL Pro Football

                       A.F.L. Pro Football
                    (C) 1996 Brendan O'Brien

NOTE: THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE. IT MAY BE FREELY DISTRIBUTED AS LONG 
AS ALL THE FILES ON THE DISK ARE INCLUDED AND NOT ALTERED IN ANY WAY.

The disk should contain the following files:

AFL.SAV
AFL_SW.PRG
DESKTOP.INF
PLAYDAT.DAT
READ_ME

\SAMPLES\
     CHEERHI.SAM
     CHEERLOW.SAM
     CLATTER.SAM
     HUT.SAM
     PING.SAM

\PLR_GRFX\
     PLRS_D.DAT
     PLRS_L.DAT
     PLRS_R.DAT
     PLRS_U.DAT

\GRAPHICS.DAT\
     3D_FANS2.NEO
     3D_NUMS.DAT
     3D_POSTS.DAT
     ARROWS.DAT
     BALLS.DAT
     BIGFONT.DAT
     BIGFONT2.DAT
     BIGFONU.DAT
     CROSSBAR.DAT
     FANS_BOT.NEO
     FANS_TOP.NEO
     FLAG_BLU.NEO
     FONT.DAT
     GAMEFONT.DAT
     GAME_FNT.DAT
     KICKMTR.DAT
     LIGHTS.DAT
     NUMBERS.DAT
     PANL_ARR.DAT
     PANL_TXT.DAT
     PATCH.DAT
     PLAYS_D1.DAT
     PLAYS_O1.DAT
     PLAY_ARW.DAT
     POSTS.DAT
     REPLAY.DAT
     SBOWL.NEO
     SCRB_TXT.DAT
     STADIUM.NEO
     STARROW.DAT
     TITLE.DAT
     TITLEB.DAT
     TITLEC.DAT

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Greetings, and welcome to the shareware release of AFL Pro Football 
an American football action game for the Atari STE with a minimum 
memory of 1 megabyte. I had originally intended to release it as a 
commercial game but the 16 bit games market has long since dried up. 
And having spent so much time on it I thought I should still release 
it, so here it is as shareware. It was also supposed to work on the 
520 STFM but the first version was just to slow and the game was bobbins 
anyway. So I decided to start again and since then the game has just 
kept growing and evolving to fill all available memory, and still 
there are many improvements I would like to make, but there just isn't 
the memory and I had to stop sometime or I'd never get the thing released.

Anyway there aren't a lot of American football games for the ST, so 
I hope you enjoy this one.

RIGHT. First some info about the game.
You'll need an STE with at least 1 meg of memory, a joystick plugged 
into port 1, and port 0 (the mouse port) for player two if necessary.

Features of the game include an overhead view and a 3D view. I never 
planned to do the 3D view when I started, but when I saw these new 
super consoles with their flash 3D graphics I thought I would try 
it, and as it turned out it proved relatively easy to do, and its 
the only version I ever use now. But the overhead view has more detail 
with its grassy pitch and stadium surround, and it runs a little faster, 
so you makes your choice...

Other features allow to select your team from 28 NFL sides. (The original 
version was start before the recent league expansions and that is 
why the new sides aren't in there. Something for a future version 
perhaps.) You can then play against a friend or the com- puter in 
a one off game, start the season in the play- offs, or play through 
the entire season and go for the Superbowl. You can also set the length 
of game, change the type of pitch surface and set the skill level.

Gameplay lets you pass, run, kick, block, tackle and catch. The players 
and pitch are more or less to scale and everything moves at real world 
speed so you'll have to think fast.

Play calling is straight forward and although there aren't 100's 
of plays to choose from, mainly due to lack of disk and memory 
space, I hope there are enough. To all those who are more familiar 
with the real game than I, and who might think some of the plays 
are a little strange, well I bow to your superior knowledge, but 
what do you expect from a non American who has never played the 
real game anyway and has no wish to end up in hospital trying to 
play it either. I would have liked to include a play designer but 
I think it would be quite tricky to do and some of the CPU play 
calling code would have to be changed so that the computer could 
use any new plays as well. But that's something else for a future 
version.

The player AI is quite detailed and was by far the most time con- 
suming part to complete. It has gone through quite a bit of 
tweaking to try and get each player to act as realistically as 
possible so I hope it gives you a challenging game.

The players also have momentum so they behave realistically when running 
and colliding with one and other.

And there is also a replay mode so you can review the last 10 se- 
conds or so of action at several different speeds.

------------------------------

Version details
Listed below are changes that have been made to each version.
The original version is incompatible with TOS 2 and the Falcon

ver 1.01
The original

ver 1.02
An attempted fix to make it compatible with TOS 2 and the   Falcon.
The sound effects routines may also cause problems with the   Falcon 
so if you press s on the title screen you can now switch    them off.
A slight glitch with the sprites when being clipped off the left hand 
side of the screen has been fixed.

------------

Now for the registration details.

The unregistered version only lets you play the first half of a game 
between San Fransisco and New York. You can still change all the options 
but most will have no effect.
If having played this little taster and decided you like it, you can 
then register your copy, and in return you will be sent de- tails 
on how to access the full game. To register send a cheque/postal order 
for œ5 pounds payable to:

Brendan O'Brien

22 Garron Crescent
LARNE
Co. Antrim
N. Ireland
BT40 2AT.

----------------------

Well I think that's about it. If you have any comments, bug reports 
or suggested improvements then I can be contacted at the above address.

MANY THANKS

Brendan.  October 1996

----------------------

And finally the instructions.

To run AFL double click on  AFL_SW.PRG. When the game has loaded press 
fire to get past the title screen.

RULES OVERVIEW
American football is played on a pitch one hundred yards long which 
is divided into five yard sections, which are further divi- ded by 
one yard markers. At each end of the pitch there is an Endzone and 
the prime objective is to move the ball up the pitch into the opposing 
teams endzone to score Touchdowns. To move the ball, the attacking 
team, called the offense, is given a series of 4 plays, called downs, 
to advance the ball at least 10 yards, by either passing the ball 
or carrying it forward, thus the term "2nd and 8" would mean the team 
is on its 2nd down and has 8 yards to go to get a "First Down", and 
so get another series of 4 downs to continue moving up the field towards 
the opposing side's endzone. If the Offense fail to get the necessary 
yards within the 4 downs then the defense will take over possession 
and so become the of- fense.
A touchdown, worth 6 points, can be scored either by carrying the 
ball into the opposition endzone or by catching the ball in the endzone 
and having full control of the ball.
Emmediately following a touchdown the offensive team then has a choice 
of going for an extra point attempt where the ball must be kicked 
between the uprights from a few yards behind the goal line to gain 
1 point, or a two point attempt where the team have one play and must 
get the ball back into the endzone from the two yard line to be successful.
If at the end of a game the scores are level then an extra quarter 
of overtime will be played with the team to score first winning the 
game.

MENU SYSTEM

OPTIONS
Move the joystick up/down to choose and press fire to select.

TEAM SELECTION
Select a team for player 1 or player 2 and the computer.

Move the joystick left/right to choose player 1 or 2, then move the 
joystick up/down to change the team.
Press fire to exit.

Stars below the team name show the abilities of each team in dif- 
ferent offensive and defensive positions. The first 14 teams are in 
the AFC the others are in the NFC.

GAME SET-UP
Move the joystick up/down to choose and left/right to change.
Press fire to exit.

50/60 hertz toggle
50 hertz - normal view.
60 hertz - Increases the size of screen if your TV is capable of a 
60 hertz display.

Skill Level - A choice of 3 skill levels.

Pitch Type - A choice of 4 playing surfaces.
Grass.
Indoor.
Ice - Pitch is very slippery. Cold weather makes handling the ball 
more difficult.
Mud - Players run slower down centre of pitch. Pitch is slippery.

Quarter Length - Set the length of the quarters from 5 to 15 mi- nutes.

View mode - Play the game in 3D or in overhead mode.

GAME TYPE
Move the joystick up/down to choose and press fire to select.

Demo Game - Watch the computer play.
1 Player game - Single game against the computer.
2 Player game - Single game between 2 players.
1 Player Championship - 1 player competes in a full season of 16 games 
and then the play-offs to try and win the Superbowl.
2 Player Championship - 2 players compete in a full season of 16 games 
and then the play-offs to try and win the Superbowl.
Note: All the teams are divided into two confrences, the AFC and the 
NFC, and each conference is divided into three divisions. To qualify 
for the play-offs a team must win their division or be one of the 
top two divisionel runners- up in their conference.
1 Player play-off - 1 Player starts in the play-offs.
2 player play-off - 2 players start in the play-offs.
     Note: The play-offs are played in a knock out basis to find the 
two conference champions. These two teams will then compete for the 
Superbowl. The two divisional winners with the best record in each 
conference enter the play-offs proper and will play the winners of 
the wild card games which the other 4 qualifiers will play in.

CHAMPIONSHIP AND PLAY-OFF GAMES
Move the joystick up/down to choose and press fire to select.

Play Next Game.
View Tables. - Look at the current divisional tables. Move up/down 
for next table. Press fire to exit.
View Play-off Standings. - Shows which teams would currently make 
the play-offs or the results if already in the play-offs. Move up/down 
for next table. Press fire to exit.
Load Game. - Load a previously saved game.
Save Game. - Save the current game.
Quit season. - Return to the options menu.

PLAYING THE GAME

PLAYER CONTROL
On offense you will always have control of the player with the ball.
On defense you will be given control of one of the players before 
each play starts.
The player you are in control of will be indicated by a marker underneath 
him.
Movement - The player can move in all 8 joystick directions.

CARRYING THE BALL
Breaking tackles - While carrying the ball you can try to break tackles 
by pressing and holding the fire button. The longer you hold it the 
better chance you have of success. However you also increase the chances 
of fumbling the ball.

Diving - A short tap of the fire button will allow to dive to try 
and gain a few extra yards when you know you are going to be tackled 
or you can try to go over the top of a player by releasing the joystick 
and quickly pressing the fire button.

DEFENDING
Tackling - As a defensive player you must try to stop the ball carrier 
by tackling him or forcing him out of bounds. To tackle press the 
fire button when close to the carrier or just run into him. If you 
want to try and strip the ball loose and force the carrier to fumble 
the ball, then continue to hold the fire button, however the longer 
you hold the button decreases the chances of making a clean tackle.

THE KICK OFF

Kicking the ball -  When all the players are in position the kickmeter 
will come on.
The Kickmeter is used to set the strength and direction of the kick. 
Each marking on the kickmeter represents 10 yards.
First you set the strength by pressing the fire button and holding 
it to stop the yellow bar.
Then you release the fire button to stop the white hash mark to set 
the direction. (The stronger the kick the less time you have to set 
the direction).
The kicker will then kick the ball and all the players on the kicking 
team will run down the field to try and stop the kickre- turner.

Receiving the kick -  When the ball has been kicked one of the
players on the receiving team will move into position to catch the 
ball, while the other players will retreat to try and protect him.
Once the ball has been caught you take control of the kick retur- 
ner and must try to advance up the field as far as possible before 
being tackled.

ENDING A PLAY
All plays end when the carrier is tackled or if he runs out of bounds. 
The next play will then start from where the last one en- ded.
If the ball is fumbled then it is free for anyone to pick it up, take 
over possession and continue playing.

PLAY CALLING
When the play selection panel appears you are shown four diagrams 
indicating different plays as well as other information about the 
state of play.
To view the next or previous four plays move the joystick up or down.
To change the direction of the play from left to right or vice versa 
move the joystick left or right.
To select a play press the fire button and push the joystick left 
to select the 1st play, up for the 2nd, down for the 3rd and right 
for the 4th.
Also displayed is the current score, the down status, time outs remaining 
and the current quarter as well as the game and play clocks.
The game clock displays how long is left in the quarter and the play 
clock displays how long the offense has to select a play. The defense 
will always be given a minimum of 10 seconds to choose a play.
If the offense does not select or start the play before the play clock 
runs down then they will be penalised 5 yards for a "Delay of Game" 
penalty.

Offensive Plays
Pass receivers are shown in yellow with a line showing their pass 
route. A white line indicates a short pass, a yellow line is a medium 
pass and an orange line is a long pass.
Running Backs are shown in white with a line showing where they should 
run to to help block, or where to carry the ball. The fil- led white 
square shows the intended ball carrier. RB's can also act as receivers.
The offensive line is shown in grey with lines indicating pass protection 
or run blocking.

Defensive Plays
The defensive line is shown in grey with lines pointing to where they 
should attack the offensive line.
The Linebackers are shown in yellow and the Safeties and Corner- backs 
are shown in red with different symbols indicating different actions 
as shown below.

x    Man for man marking
+    Run defense
#    Read play before defending against run or pass
o    Zone defense. A broken line pointing to a circle shows the  player 
what zone to cover.
A forward pointing arrow indicates a blitz, where the player will 
charge at the QB and attempt to tackle him before he can pass the 
ball and thus "Sack" the quarterback.

Starting the Play
When both teams have chosen their plays the players will line up in 
formation ready to start.
All plays are started by the Centre who will pass the ball through 
his legs (the SNAP) to the Quarterback who will be standing behind 
him.
To start the play press, then release the fire button.

RUNNING PLAYS

Offense - When the QB has the ball retreat a short distance and quickly 
press fire to transfer the ball to the advancing Running Back. You 
will then take control of the RB and must try to advance the ball 
as far upfield as possible by avoiding defenders and breaking tackles.

Defense - On defense you must try to contain the offense and pre- 
vent them from gaining too many yards.

The play ends when the ball carrier is tackled or he runs out of bounds.

PASSING PLAYS

Offense - After the snap the players on the offensive line (shown 
in grey on the play diagrams) will retreat from the line of scrimmage 
and form a protective pocket around the QB and attempt to block any 
advancing defenders so as to give him enough time to pass the ball.

The Quarterback - On passing plays it is the QB's job to pass the 
ball to one of the receivers. When he receives the ball from the snap 
the first thing he must do is retreat into the pocket created by his 
offensive line, then wait for the receivers to get in po- sition before 
throwing the ball.
The QB has two modes of movement. The first allows him to move backwards 
slowly. This is the mode he will start in and so long as a receiver 
is selected he will stay in. While in this mode, if there is no receiver 
selected, then the QB will enter the normal running mode (useful for 
evading pursueing defenders). Although the QB can then select a receiver 
while in normal mode, and throw the ball, the faster he is moving 
the less accurate will be the throw. To get back to the slow mode 
you must first stop, then move in a direction which selects a receiver.

The intended receiver will be shown by a large yellow arrow.
When the arrow changes colour to brown the receiver is in position 
and ready to receive the pass.
The receiver selected depends on the direction of the joystick as 
shown below.

If playing up move the joystick:

joystick       receiver
up-left        widest left
up             nearest centre
up-right       widest right
down-right     2nd from left
donw-left      2nd from right
down           nearest centre
left           widest left, not past line of scrimmage
right          widest right, not past line of scrimmage

If playing down move the joystick:

joystick       receiver
down-left      widest left
down           nearest centre
down-right     widest right
up-right       2nd from left
up-left        2nd from right
up             nearest centre
left           widest left, not past line of scrimmage
right          widest right, not past line of scrimmage


Passing the ball - To pass the ball press and hold the fire but- ton. 
The QB will then wind up to throw the ball.

There are 3 types of pass:
A Quick tap of the fire button will send the ball on a high slow arc.
A slightly longer press for a normal throw.
And finally a longer press again for a fast and low-arc, bullet pass.

Note that the ball will not be thrown straight at the receiver, but 
to a point ahead of him so that he will not have to check his run 
to stop and catch the ball.

Receiving the ball - Once the ball has been thrown the receiver will 
automatically move into position to try and catch it.
To attempt the catch you must press fire when the ball is within range 
to jump and then release the fire button as soon as the ball is caught. 
If fire is not pressed on time then the ball will not be caught or 
if it is not released on time the receiver will drop it.  If the ball 
is caught you then take full control of the receiver and can move 
him to try and gain extra yards.

If noone catches the ball then the pass is ruled incomplete, the play 
will end and the next down will start from the same place as the previous 
one.

Pass defense - Before the play starts you will have control of one 
of the linebackers. You can take control of one of the other de- fensive 
backs by pressing fire to cycle through the others. You are also free 
to move anywhere on your own side of the line of scrimmage. If you 
cross the line of scrimmage the team will be penalised 5 yards for 
an "Offside" infringement.
When the play starts you are free to move the player you are in control 
of wherever you choose although it is usually best to do what the 
player is assigned to do for that chosen play.
After the ball has been passed control will transfer to the player 
closest to the intended receiver and the choice must be made whe- 
ther to try and stop the receiver catching the ball or to go for the 
interception and so take over possession.
While the ball is in the air the player can either jump to try and 
catch the ball or he can try to tackle the receiver just as he catches 
the ball.
Trying for the interception works the same as for the receiver trying 
to catch the ball, although if fire is not being pressed when contact 
with the ball is first made then it is assumed the player is trying 
to just bat the ball away and so he will be able to reach slightly 
higher.
With a short tap of the fire button, the player will launch him- self 
at the receiver in an attempt to hit him just as he makes contact 
with the ball and so put him off.
Alternatively the defender can wait for the receiver to make the catch 
and then hit him as hard as possible before he gains control of the 
ball and so force him to drop it.

Once the ball has been caught by either side, the carrier is free 
to run with the ball and the play will end when the ball carrier is 
tackled or he runs out of bounds.

FIELDGOAL ATTEMPTS
A fieldgoal can be attempted at any time, from anywhere on the pitch, 
although they are usually only attempted on fourth down when the team 
do not want to risk trying to gain the necessary yards to get another 
first down, and are close enough to the goal to have a genuine attempt 
at success.
To attempt a fieldgoal, select the FIELDGOAL play from the play calling 
panel.
Then when all the players are in position the kickmeter will come 
on and you can attempt to kick the ball as described for the kick 
off.
For the kick to be successful the ball must go between the up- rights 
and over the crossbar. A fieldgoal is worth three points.

If fieldgoal is selected the defensive formation will be selected 
automatically.
On defense you will have control of one of the backs and can at- tempt 
to charge through the offensive line at the kicker and block the ball 
by pressing fire to jump.

PUNTING
If the offense is not close enough to the goal to go for the fieldgoal 
then they could punt the ball instead, by kicking the ball as far 
upfield as possible and so giving up possession.
To punt, select PUNT from the play calling panel.
Then when all the players are in position the kickmeter will come 
on and you can attempt to kick the ball as described for the kick 
off.
After the kick all your players will run down the field and at- tempt 
to stop the carrier.

If punt is selected the defensive formation will be selected au- tomatically.
On defense, when the ball is kicked the punt returner will move into 
position to catch the ball. When the catch is made you will take direct 
control of him and must attempt to run with the ball as far back down 
the field as possible before being tackled.
When the play has ended you will then start a new series of downs.

EXTRA POINT AND TWO POINT ATTEMPTS
After scoring a touchdown, the offense have the opportunity to go 
for an extra point attempt by successfully kicking the ball at goal 
to gain another 1 point.
To try for the extra point select EXTRA POINT from the play call- 
ing panel, then follow the instructions for taking a field- goal.
Alternativly the offense can try for a two point attempt where they 
are given one play to try and get the ball back into the endzone from 
the 2 yard line.
To go for the 2 points just select a play as in normal play.

After either attempt, whether successful or not, the offense will 
kick off from their own 30 yard line to restart play.

CONCEDING A SAFETY
A safety is conceded when the ball carrier on the offense is tackled 
inside his own endzone or if he runs out of bounds from his endzone. 
A safety scores two points and the team conceding the safety must 
then kick off to restart play.

If a defensive player gains possession of the ball and is tackled 
in his own endzone then the team will start their next play play from 
their 20 yard line. This is known as a Touchback.

TIME OUTS
From the play calling panel you can select a TIME OUT to stop the 
clock. Time outs are mostly used near the end of a half when your 
team is getting beat and the clock hasn't stopped, so as to save a 
little time between plays.
To return to the game press the fire button.
Each team is given three time outs per half.

GAME STATISTICS
During breaks in the game you can review the passing and running statistics 
of both teams by moving the joystick up or down. To return to the 
game press the fire button.
The passing stats show the number of completions, attempted passes, 
interceptions and the amount of yards gained from passing the ball, 
while the running stats show the number of attempted runs and the 
yards gained from running.

REPLAYS
During play you can review the previous play before the next play 
starts, or replay the current play.
To view the replay press the R key. You can then use the function 
keys to control the replay as follows.

F1   Fast reverse
F2   Normal reverse
F3   Slow motion reverse
F4   Single frame reverse
F5   Stop
F6   Single frame advance
F7   Slow motion advance
F8   Normal playback
F9   Fast forward
F10  Exit

PAUSE - To pause and and restart the game press P.

QUIT - To quit the current game press Q.