dev diary #29 Blocking

[Rocketcan]

Hello Coaches!

 

Welcome to another Dev Diary for NewSim on SimFBA!

 

This Dev Diary continues to explain the transition to the new game engine. Last time, we talked about how receiving works and what things would make a good receiver. This time, we will talk about blocking. This will encompass any player that has a chance to be designated a blocker on any given play (basically anyone but the QB).

 

First, let's talk about who can be a blocker. The two main types of blocking are run blocking and pass blocking.

 

The following positions could potentially be called on to block on running plays:

• C
  
• OG
  
• OT
  
• TE
  
• FB
  
• RB
  
• WR
  

And the following could be called upon to pass block:

• C
  
• OG
  
• OT
  
• TE
  
• FB
  
• RB
  

So what skills make a good blocker? The following do:

• Run Blocking
  
• Pass Blocking
  
• Strength
  
• Football IQ
  

Ok, so how do each of these things affect how well a blocker will play?

 

Run Blocking: This skill is pretty straightforward. The higher this value is, the better a player will block on a run play. The better run blockers you have, the more yardage your ball carrier will gain before they make contact. The way this is calculated is this value will directly add (or subtract if they are bad!!) yardage to the yards gained by the ball carrier.

 

Pass Blocking: Like Run Blocking, this skill is straightforward. The higher this value is, the better a player will block on a pass play. The way this is applied is during a pass rush situation. To avoid sacks, having several players blocking with high pass rush values is key, as this can avoid some (though not all) of those situations from occurring altogether. In other instances, a pass rush matchup can occur, and if the pass blocking is higher than the pass rushing values, the difference is applied to the chance of a sack. This means that a dominant pass blocker can actually give the QB more time to throw.

 

Strength: Strength can provide a small bonus to blocking, but that bonus is only reached by exceptionally strong players. This is to show that sometimes a player is simply a bulldozer and can push even the largest humans out of the way.

 

Football IQ: This skill, for now, only applies to individual blocking situations (although it might be possible in the future for Line Captain centers to share some of their football IQ bonus). This boosts (or detracts) from a players ability to block on a given play based on how smart they are. The idea here is, that a savvy player will know the playbook inside and out and might also have some other tricks up their sleeve to give them an advantage.

 

This one is a bit short today since the calculations and data are much simpler than the previous ones. Next, we will likely talk about stuff on the defensive side of the ball!

 

That is it for this dev diary. Comment with any questions you have and I'll be sure to answer them as best as I can!

 

Until next time,

 

Rocketcan

[subsequent]

He's on fire!

[tsweezy]

Given that blocking is so straightforward, is there a negative applied to offensive line players sliding over positions? (C as OG, OG as OT, etc..) or are they swappable atm

[Rocketcan]

Right now they are swappable with no penalty. That will change in the future though.