Second and Ten

Roogames' conversion of Wayne Poniewaz's American Football Simulation 'First and Ten'

Welcome to the home page of Second and Ten, the pro and college American football simulation. Version 5 was released on Wednesday 5th September, which included a fully updated college version and the release of the 2006 college season. Read on for a quick overview of the new features introduced in version 5 as well as a detailed description of the Second and Ten program.

The Pro Encyclopedia is a very powerful companion to SAT Pro which allows you to combine completed seasons and produce team history and player career records, both overall and on a team-by-team basis. Over 50 reports also detail game-by-game records.

The best way to describe the features is by example. This link shows the full (automatic) HTML output for a single team.

The encyclopedia can be downloaded from the Second and Ten page. It can be purchased from the Purchase page and costs 10 GBP.

Certainly the two main features of version 5 are the introduction of direct internet play and the upgrading of the college version to make full use of all the version 4 and version 5 enhancements.

Both season and exhibition games can be played over the internet. Once connected, an internet games runs smoothly with plays taking place simultaneously on each computer. Each player can also customize their screen/sound effects and pictures with their own preferences, and run the commentary at whatever speed they like.

The college version now allows full seasonal replays within one database, adds the SAT poll feature to rank the top 40 teams and allows much greater customization of the college screens than before.

Other features include the automatic creation of post seasons. This, in conjunction with the improved tie-breaking options, rules and displays makes the setting up of a post season as simple as 3-4 mouse clicks.

We have also introduced two new season formats. The tournament format allows you to set up a knock-out tournament with up to 128 teams. They can be seeded or you can allow a random draw. SAT will cope with any number of teams up to 128, scheduling preliminary rounds if needed. The World Cup format is based on the soccer World Cup, where you have 8, 16 or 32 teams arranged in groups of 4. Each team plays each other in the group (once or home/road) and the winners and runners-up progress to the playoff. The tie-breaker rules are simply head-to-head, points differential and TD differential. Finally, the post season is played at a single venue. An interesting twist on normal season play.

New offensive and defensive options are available. Every team can now call a fake punt or field goal, and on defense you can triple-cover a receiver or elect to 'go aggressive' to try and force a turnover in desperate situations.

We have also included support for optional referee signals and sounds as well as coach photos.

Finally we have made several tweaks to the game engine to improve both the feel of the game, the balance of the play-calling and also the accuracy of the final statistics.

SAT is the computer version of the free tabletop football game ‘First and Ten’ (FAT). It faithfully recreates FAT using the same charts and rules, so it is possible to follow each play in SAT on the manual charts, using the (optional) dice display. The scope of the game is immense, with 66 FREE NFL seasons, 4 free College seasons and over 150 free College all-time-great teams available.

SAT deals with nearly every aspect of American Football. Quarterbacks are rated for 5 different pass types as well as for rushing, and the likelihood of being hurried by the defense. How a QB reacts to being hurried depends on his ratings – He may scramble, be sacked, or pass to a secondary receiver. QB’s also read the defense and will often throw away from double coverage if it is in their best interest to do so.

Running backs are rated, not only for yards gained, but for effectiveness close to the goal-line as well as for the ability to ‘make extra yards’.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends are rated for catches (separately for longer and shorter passes), as well as only being eligible to catch certain passes as they did in real life. They are also rated for their ability in the opponent’s ‘red zone’, as well as for ‘end-around’ runs.

Defenders are rated for interceptions, sacks and for defending the run and pass. The offensive line is rated for run blocking and pass protection Teams are rated in 9 areas of defense which go a long way to personalising each team’s style of defense.

There are 11 possible defenses to call, as well as putting in additional defensive backs, keying on runners and double covering receivers. You can also guard the sidelines and key runners for specific inside or outside runs. Each defense has its strengths and weaknesses – It is up to you to make the right call for the offense you are facing. Keying and DC effects have been expanded in SAT, so that it becomes more of a tactical decision as QBs will occasionally 'look away' from double coverage, and throw to an alternate receiver.

The game is compatible with free Pro seasons which have been produced for First and Ten. Free downloads of the following seasons are available AFL 1960 to 1969. NFL 1950 to 2005. 66 seasons in total.

The core of any sports simulation is in the actual simulation of the game, in terms of statistical accuracy, ease of use, available strategies, a worthy opponent and 'feel'.

All ratings in SAT are objectively based on available stats. The game uses individual player ratings for offense and special teams, and team ratings for defense, fumbles and penalties. These take into account a wide range of stats which not only produce accurate statistics, but also capture the personalities of the players in terms of how they were used and performed in real life.

Defensive and Offenslve line players are also rated in various areas and these ratings affect the overall team ratings when injuries come into play.

The predicted effects of both injuries and weather conditions are factored in to both player and team statistics so that the underlying statistical integrity remains intact even with these additional variables used during a season. When all your players are fit and playing in perfect weather conditions, the team will perform quite differently from when you are playing in adverse weather with several key players missing.

Team Roster showing Offensive/Special Teams Ratings	Team Roster showing Defensive/Offensive Line Ratings

SAT offers one-click play-calling during a game. All available in-game strategies are visible on the main stadium screen. One-click also puts a player into the game. Display, sound and game-play options are all available on a separate screen, accessible from the stadium screen. Tooltips are displayed when the mouse passes over a clickable part of the screen explaining the option available.

SAT allows four run types: Inside, Outside, Draw and Short Yardage. Quarterbacks can also call a quarterback sneak and take a kneel. Some receivers have an end-around option. Running backs can optionally be rated for inside/outside runs and these run options made available throughout the game. By default the inside/outside option is only available when a team uses the hurry-up or slow down option, and a generic Run (or Draw) is available at all other times.

Six pass lengths can be called, ranging from short through to long. A screen pass option is also available. Play-action passes are also an option. In hurry-up or slow-down mode the offense also have the option to specify an inside or sidelines pass.

Formations matter in SAT with bonuses/penalties for different formations depending on the play called. A 'Limited Formation' option is available for a season which restricts formations, reflecting the style of play in the 50'sand 60's.

The offense can run in three modes: Hurry-Up, Super Hurry-Up and Slow-Down. These have an effect on the timing of plays as well as making certain strategies available.

There are eleven basic defenses which can be called. Add to these the option to bring an extra defensive back into the game, run key a player (specifically inside or outside when these options are available to the offense), call a pass key on a running back, double cover one or more receivers (depending on the formation), triple-cover a receiver or elect to go aggressive on defense and you will see that there is great depth available in defensive play-calling.

An intentional delay of game option is available, as is an intentional safety. You can also instruct your punter to play 'safe' to avoid a dangerous receiver (but at a price in terms of field position), or call a fake punt or field goal.

A lot of time has been spent on developing the AI for a strong computer opponent. It will make use of all the available options, and has been programmed to make the most of both its strengths and your weaknesses. Your pattern of play-calling will be used during a game as the AI adjusts its strategy where appropriate. It is strong in clock-management and will make effective use of its timeouts and other clock-management options at the end of a game. All feedback we have had indicates that it is a very tough opponent to beat.

The intangible element of game-play. SAT provides you with the ability to use a variety of custom graphics including, helmets, logos, player photos, stadium photos, custom fields, and commentary backgrounds. The commentary is rich and varied with appropriate sound effects. Real coaches' names add a flavor to the commentary. Built in unusual plays await, and pop-up displays (including photos) highlight individual player performances. Seasonal performances are commented upon where appropriate, so when playing a regular or post-season you feel very much part of that season.

This is a unique feature which has been added in version 4. When playing a season you can elect to use the real-time-scoring feature for either a day's games or a week's games. This includes the ability to simultaneously play a full college week (50+ games)

If selected each game is played simultaneously while you are playing/viewing a game. You will be updated with scores, red zone entry and individual statistical milestones from other games, but the real beauty of the feature is the ability to switch from the game in progress to any other game to either view or take control of one or both teams. You can even pause games if you want to watch them at the end of your game. Games can also be delayed by up to 4 quarters before starting play, so a game may start at half-time in the other games.

Most SAT games will be played in a season environment. All seasons have a built in schedule detailing games by date. As the season progresses you can view information on a week-by-week basis through the 4 available schedule screens:

A summary screen for the season is available which shows the current standings (a detailed standings and wild-card screen is also available), and one of 6 summary displays, three of which are displayed below:

Version 5 introduces the automatic creation of post-seasons based on the final regular season standings. It also allows tie-breaker rules to be customised for individual seasons.

The statistics kept by the program are comprehensive. There are 20 team reports, 10 individual reports, 23 game performance reports, 7 best play reports and three summary reports showing the top team and player performances. Most can be sorted by any stat category on display. A recurring feature of SAT is the ability to click on a screen and view the detail behind a specific stat line. The sequence below shows the individual passing statistics screen, the display when clicking the 1st QB on the report and the display when clicking the first game on his individual screen:

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) theme is continued through to the end of the season where All-Pro and All-Conference teams are announced, together with the overall, offensive and defensive MVPs.

SAT allows you to easily create a regular or post-season, either using an existing season's format, a round-robin league format,a free format where you enter your own schedule, a single team replay (college only), or the new tournament season (up to 128 teams) or World Cup style format. You can mix teams from any available season:

Probably the most improved feature in version 4 of SAT is the draft. Not only do we now allow a full draft including defensive players (whose ratings generate a team's defensive ratings) but the whole process is much more flexible. On top of this a lot of work has been put into the computer drafting feature and we feel that the draft AI will prove as good an 'opponent' as when playing the AI during a game.

The process begins with creating the season. Similar to a regular season creation, you can use an existing season format as the base for your draft season or a round-robin or free-format. To create the player pool you have the option of using the players from the teams you select (together with players from up to 20 additional teams) or selecting a single or range of seasons with all players appearing in the selected season(s) being added to the player pool. Custom teams can also be created from scratch.

Before performing the draft you have three options as to how to run the draft. A straight draft where the draft order remains the same for each round, A serpentine draft where the order is reversed at the end of every round and a random serpentine draft where the draft order is reversed after odd rounds and randomly re-created after even rounds. The number of rounds can also be set though the draft will finish before this round if all teams pass their selection.

The main draft screen shows the draft order and allows you to view the available players by position. You can elect for the AI to take control of one or more teams or draft through either a round or the entire draft. You can also set preferences for any AI team so they lean towards offense or defense when drafting.

At any point you can review the draft, either round by round or an individual team's picks. This information remains available after the draft is completed and the season is in progress.

Scoring Summary	Drive Charts	Individual Offensive Stats	Detailed Play-by-Play

Top Offensive Performances	Top Defensive Performances	Top Special Teams Performances	Game and Week MVP awards

Regular Season	Post Season	Tournament	Schedule Editor

Draft Options	Main Draft Screen	AI Draft Preferences	Round by Round Draft Review

Stadium Screen showing Offensive play-calling options	Stadium Screen showing Defensive play-calling options	In-game options screen

Game Delay Screen	Real-Time Scoring Alert	Real-Time Scoring Scoreboard

Top Player Performances (with photos if available)	Top Team Offense Performances	Top Team Defense Performances

Automatic Playoff Creation	Divisional Winners and Wild Card Standings	Tie Breaker Rules

Passing Report	Individual Passing Report	Specific Game Summary