PDS Capabilities

[DAWUSS]

What all can the PDS do? To begin, I don't own MF yet (I'm getting there [;)] ), but I am curious as to what all the PDS is capable of. Do I just work with standard formations and choose and click what I want my players to do (ie, choose routes for WR, coverages for the back 7) or is it about as vast as drawing plays on a piece of paper during a very dull session of math class?

While I don't run trick plays very often (depends on the players I have), I do have a few trick plays in my playbook collection, such as my "Direct Snap Flea Flicker", where the center snaps it to the RB, carries his fake advance, and laterals it back to the QB right before he (RB) crosses the LOS, and the QB then proceeds to find his open receiver. And then there are the "standard trick plays" (WR reverse, RB pass, WR Reverse Pass, among others), which I periodically run, but not very often.

And as for formations, can I essentially have players line up wherever as long as there are (under 11 man rules) 7 people on the LOS?

[dreamtheatervt]

The PDS is generally flexable and powerful.  You can create any formation that does not violate the rules of football, except for OL, whose position presnap is fixed (cannot create lonesome polecat, swinging gate, muddle huddle formations).
 
Direct snaps are possible, but for now handoffs to receivers and RB/WR thrown passes are disabled because they are AI busters.  I won't speak for David, but I believe this is something that could be re-introduced down the road.
 
There are not pre-packaged routes, but the game allows you save individual routes (i.e. so that every slant is the same).
 
The defense is equally flexable in terms of formations.  M2M exists and can be varied (bump, under, over, deep), and zones can be user drawn so you can specify how deep and wide they are.
 
The only things it really doesn't do is make some of the trick plays you asked about, but we may see those abilities in the future.  Trick plays are such a small part of football that I don't really miss them, you earn your bread off-tackle in my book.  As a former football coach, I get a lot of the the game and PDS for the most part.
 
Since there is nothing on the market like this currently, it sounds like this is the game for you.
 

[Mykal]

gotta agree with the coach above,

you can make it as complexed as you like or you can keep it simple
I dont tend to try making massive changes in playbooks
just little bits here and there, working from and studying stock plays and making small alterations.
thats the best fit for me (spend way to much time on graphics to make complete new playbooks).

so you've pretty much got your cake and can eat it, in that the PDS is more or less as flexible as you like.

Dig deep into those pockets brother, pull out some dollars and get the game bought
then you can join us all for real.

[DAWUSS]

Defense I'm not that worried about - I'll most likely download several defensive playbooks for certain teams and be done with it as I specialize in the offense.

And like I mentioned, I really don't run trick plays very often anyway (it depends on what players I have), but I was curious as to the freedoms allowed in the play design department, and the flexibility of trick plays is often (but not always) a good indicator of that.

The flexibility of the systems I can run sound nice, I would like to be able to try having a team run the WCO out of the Wishbone, for example (something that isn't easy to do in a mainstream football game). Also the possibility of working around with some of my variations to standard formations is a welcomed feature. I'm an aspiring coach trying to get that foot in the door, so something like this would be a nice way of seeing some of my paper offenses at work.

I'll seriously have to consider getting this game. I know it's not perfect, but it does sound like it'll still be a worthwhile purchase.

[therhino]

I love the PDS. Madden had an alright play creator, but it doesn't even compare to the Maximum Football PDS. The PDS is a huge plus to Maximum Football and is the best play designer I have ever used.
TheRhino

[Old Coach]

One thing that might help you visualize some of the capabilities of the PDS is to go to youtube and search for Maximium Football. I have posted 3 videos showing game play in MaxFB. The 2 Tennessee-Army videos show old school plays and defenses in action.

Old Coach

[DAWUSS]

I checked out those YouTubes - I noticed that the RB lines up slightly off in the single wing, and the QB occasionally has moments of bad pathfinding, the PDS does appear to be quite flexible (with the pre-snap motions, quick-punts and the like), though it was old-school football. In your AF-UO game, the option (if it wasn't the option, it suuure looked like it) does seem to be behave a little funny, however.


How many plays and formations can I fit in? Can I have an Al Saunders-like encyclopedia or is it less than what I get in mainstream football games?

[therhino]

ORIGINAL: DAWUSS
How many plays and formations can I fit in? Can I have an Al Saunders-like encyclopedia or is it less than what I get in mainstream football games?

As many as you want, but when picking a play with 20+ formations it will take a while. I am 99% sure you have no limit as to how many plays/formations you can have. I hope this helps and welcome to the Maximum Football community.
TheRhino

[DAWUSS]

Well, I just bought and downloaded MF. I'm getting into the PDS, but the biggest problem (after learning how to draw routes without getting into a mess trying to turn it off) is the quarterback. The handoffs I can't seem to get right, and in the passing game he either runs a draw, throws too early, or stands there and doesn't throw at all).

After a while I tried a game using some of the default playbooks, which were great for high school teams, but way shallow for pro teams. Then I went into the MF utilities and merged some playbooks to give me a more deeper playbook to develop a certain system for teams.

The tedious yet humorous thing is editing player numbers and periodically editing player names

[Marauders]

I'm getting into the PDS, but the biggest problem (after learning how to draw routes without getting into a mess trying to turn it off) is the quarterback. The handoffs I can't seem to get right, and in the passing game he either runs a draw, throws too early, or stands there and doesn't throw at all).

 
It's all about timing.  One has to time the receivers and the progression, but the QB often throws to the primary receiver even if covered, so one has to be careful.
 

After a while I tried a game using some of the default playbooks, which were great for high school teams, but way shallow for pro teams.

 
I agree, the default playbooks are either created prior to the depth chart changes, so players are not in the correct place, or don't have the depth needed for a complete playbook.