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UFLM2
User Manual
---Rosters and players
The roster of each team is usually just a text file named xxx.txt where xxx
is the 3 letter abbreviation of a team (team names in ESMS have registered
abbreviations, to keep file names short). It isn't necessary to restrict the
abbreviation to 3 letters, but it has proved to be the most convenient method.
If you look at a roster of a ESMS team (if you have no rosters nearby, see the
Administrator's manual for help on generating rosters), you will see a header
and a list of players. The header and a line for some player look like this:
Name Age
Nat Prs St Tk Ps Sh Sm Ag KAb TAb PAb SAb Gam Sav Ktk Kps Sht Gls Ass DP Inj Sus
Fit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A_Santiago 20 arg C 3
15 9 8 35 24 300
320 556 108 11
0 29 9 6
0 1 8
0 0 85
The structure of a player's description is as follows:
Name: The player's name. It is advised not to give players names longer
than 12 characters. The name must consist of contiguous non-whitespace
characters - spaces in names are forbidden ('_' is frequently used instead).
Age: The player's age.
Nat: The player's nationality - a 3 letter abbreviation. (In our example,
'arg' represents Argentina).
Prs: Preferred side - one or more of R (Right), L (Left) and C (Center)
that specify where on the field the player is most effective. Combinations of
these 3 letters signify players who are good on more than one side: RC, RL, LC
and RLC.
St: Shot stopping skill - how well the player performs between the posts
(how good a Goalkeeper he is).
Tk: Tackling skill - how well the player tackles, important for defensive
players.
Ps: Passing skill - how well the player passes, important for midfield
players.
Sh: Shooting skill - how well the player shoots to goal, important for
offensive players.
Sm: Stamina - how enduring the player is. Players with high stamina get
tired less quickly.
Ag: Aggression - how aggressive the player is.
KAb, TAb, PAb, SAb: Shot stopping, Tackling, Passing, ShootingAbilities -
the player's ability in each of the 4 main skills. Read on for more details.
The following are ``statistics'' - they may be reset for each new league season,
and in general represent some ``state'' of the player in the league, opposed to
the attributes that stick with the player.
Gam: Games - how many games the player played so far in the league.
Sav: Saves - the amount of saves the player has made while playing as a
Goalkeeper.
Ktk: Key tackles - how many important (goal saving) tackles the player
has made.
Kps: Key passes - how many important (leading to a scoring opportunity)
passes the player has made.
Sht: Shots - how many shots at the opponent's goal the player has made.
Gls: Goals - how many goals the player has scored.
Ass: Assisted - how many goals the player has assisted.
DP: Disciplinary Points - how many disciplinary points has the player
accumulated. Read on for more info.
Inj: Injury - for how many games/weeks is the player currently injured.
Sus: Suspension - for how many games/weeks is the player currently
suspended.
Fit: Fitness - on a scale of 1 - 100, how fit the player is to play in the
next game.
Note the delicate games/weeks issue in injuries and suspensions. ESMS fantasy
leagues usually try to mimic real-world soccer leagues by playing one game per
week. However, sometimes cup games are played in the middle of the week.
Injuries are, naturally, specified in time units like weeks, but suspensions are
usually specified in an amount of games.
--Player positions and sides
Unlike in other games, a player in ESMS doesn't have a pre-defined position.
A player has a set of skills which makes him more suitable on some positions
than on others - it is up to his manager to decide on which position to play
him. The positions in ESMS are:
GK - goalkeeper. The solitary guardian-angel of your team's goal. Players with
high St (Shot stopping) skills are good GKs.
DF - defender. DFs are the major line of defense of your team. They usually
tackle most of the opponent's attacks. Players play best as DFs when their Tk
(Tackling) skill is high.
DM - defensive midfielder. DMs balance between defense and midfield. They help
protect your goal, but they also take their chances in advancing and feeding the
attackers with vital passes. Players play best as DMs when they have good Tk and
Ps (Passing) skills.
MF - midfielder. MFs are the main link between your defense and offense. Players
with a high Ps skill are good midfielders.
AM - attacking midfielder. AMs are up there in the offense, trying to score
goals and support the forwards. Players play best as AMs when they have good Ps
and Sh (Shooting) skills.
FW - forward. The major fire-power of your team. FW are fed with passes from
your midfield and score goals. Players function best as FWs when their Sh skill
is high.
Players also play on different sides of the field. The sides, as you have
already seen are Right, Left and Center. Any player in ESMS can play on any side
(just like he can play on any position) but players will perform much better
when playing on their preferred side. When you specify how a player will play in
your teamsheet (see the explanation of teamsheets for more info), you must
combine the positions with the side (except for the goalkeeper). For example,
DML means that the player plays as a left defensive midfielder; FWC means a
central forward, etc. GK is the only player for which the side isn't explicitly
specified.
--Team formation
A team formation is simply a summary of what positions its players play on. It
should be familiar from the real soccer world and computer games. For example
4-4-2 is commonly used to specify that the team plays with 4 defenders, 4
midfielders and 2 attackers.
In ESMS the formation is implicitly inferred from the positions assigned to all
players. You don't specify a formation in the teamsheet - you specify the
positions your players play in. Formation can be useful on the league-level,
however, to impose certain restrictions on teamsheets. For example, some leagues
forbid to play with more than 5 defenders, or with more than 3 attackers. ESMS
doesn't mind how you play your players - as long as they're 11 and there's one
goalkeeper. You can in theory put a team of a GK + 10 left midfielders (MFL),
ESMS won't mind, but don't be surprised if your team won't shine - a healthy
balance of defense and offense is required to play well. ESMS was built to mimic
reality - what works in reality will work in ESMS as well. Common real-world
formations like 4-4-2, 5-2-3, 3-1-5-2 etc proved to be effective.
Special care has to be given to sides of players. Playing with 4 players in the
defense may be solid, but not quite so if they are all assigned to the Right.
Balanced formations perform better than unbalanced - for example when you play
with 4 players in defense, the balanced formations are LCCR (Left, two Centers
and one Right) and LLRR (two Lefts, two Rights), and so on. The multitude of
formations and side assignments makes it rather tricky to build a really strong
team - you will need a good mix of players with various skills for each
position. An injury of a key player can be quite a challenge to the manager,
that may be forced to change his game-style while this player can't play.
--Team tactics
Another issue a manager has to consider is the tactic his team will use in the
game. ESMS supports a variety of tactics - in fact, tactics are fully
customizable and can be set by each league for its own needs. I'll describe the
default tactics that come with ESMS - they have been tested by time and provide
an interesting variety.
Normal (N) - The most basic tactics in ESMS (don't be folled by ``basic'' - in
some cases N is the most effective way to play). It provides no special
benefits, but also has almost no vulnerabilities. A team playing N will enjoy a
stable mix of defense and offense.
Defensive (D) - A team playing D focuses a lot on defense. If you want to keep
the score down, giving a strong fight in the defense, but also not taking much
opportunities in the offense, D is the tactic for you. With this tactic your
midfielders, and even attackers to some extent focus more on the defense, hence
your opponent will have a hard time scoring, but so will you.
Attacking (A) - The most offensive tactic. Your team is eager to score - the
attackers stick near to the opponent's goal, the midfielders take a lot of
chances and even the defenders join to help. This all gives good offense, but
your defense will suffer greatly.
Passing (P) - Your team will push for offense, driving slow but efficient
attacks. Naturally, when a team focuses on attack, the defense is weaker. This
tactic is more offensive than N but less than A.
Counter Attack (C) - The defenders concentrate on defense, but seek
opportunities to drive the midfielders and attackers to stinging
counter-attacks. This tactic is more offensive than D but less than N.
Long Ball (L) - The most unusual tactic, which can sometimes be a winner and
sometimes fail, depending on the opponent. With L, your attack is driven by long
balls right from the defense, and midfielders play a minor role. This tactic is
usually used by teams with relatively weak midfielders.
In addition, certain tactics have bonuses agains other tactics. This is
summarized in the following table:
Tactic Against Bonus type
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N - -
D L Defense
A - -
P L Defense & Offense
C A & P Midfield & Offense
L C Defense & Midfield
As you can see, the bonuses are quite convoluted. Bonuses are not a provision
for victory, of course, but they make tactic-picking more interesting. Just like
in real life, it may help if you have a general idea of what tactic your
opponent is going to use.
--Skills and Abilities
As you have already learned, there are four major skills in ESMS - St (Shot
stopping), Tk (Tackling), Ps (Passing) and Sh (Shooting). These skills have the
biggest effect on how players play, and on which positions they perform best. It
would be boring, however, if the skills of players were constant throughout
their career and it wouldn't reflect what happens in real soccer. For this
reason, ESMS has the concept of Abilities.
An ability is means for a player to improve his skill over time. Each player has
an ability rating (a number between 1 and 1000) for each of the major skills (KAb,
TAb, PAb, SAb). The ability is affected by the player's performance in each
game. If you want to see exactly how the abilities change for each event, see
the Administrator's manual.
Eventually, abilities cause skill increases or decreases. For example, once a
certain player's PAb (Passing ability) reaches 1000, it is reset and his Ps
skill raises by one point. The same happens with decreases. This makes players
in ESMS dynamic - they usually improve over time, especially if they perform
well - just like real players do.
--Stamina and Fitness
Fitness - while playing, a player gets tired. For each minute he plays, a small
amount of fatigue adds up, and this makes a player generally less effective over
time. The difference is not great, but it is certainly advantageous to
substitute players to bring some fresh wind into your team's sails. The players'
fitness rating is a number between 1 and 100 (100 means the player is 100% fit,
etc) that tells the fitness level the player will start his next game with. On
each minute he plays, the player's fitness goes down a little bit, and he ends
the game less fit. Between games, some amount of fitness is added to each
player.
Stamina - stamina is a rating between 1 and 100 denoting how endurant a player
is. It is a constant rating that affects how quickly a player loses fitness
while playing. A player with stamina 80 will be generally more fit after a full
game than a player with stamina 60.
The meaning of Fitness and Stamina in ESMS is quite simple - players get tired
and should get some rest from time to time. Your league can set its own rules
about fitness recovery (see the Administrator's manual), but generally it is
desired to keep an eye on your players' fitness. Sometimes it is better to play
a lower-skilled player with fitness 100 than a higher-skilled player who is very
tired and has fitness 50.
--Aggression
Each player in ESMS plays aggressively to a certain degree. Aggression is a
constant rating between 1 and 100. A more aggressive player will sometimes
perform better (because he's so eager and has a lot of motivation to win balls),
but will usually commit more fouls.
--Fouls, Cards and DPs
Players in ESMS commit fouls, that may lead to them getting (yellow or red)
cards, and sometimes causes penalties. ESMS doesn't keep count of all the fouls
- only of the most serious ones, which at least deserve a warning from the
referee. The amount of disciplinary points of each player accumulates and for a
certain amount of points he will be suspended for one game or more. For the
exact workings of this mechanism, consult the Administrator's manual.
--Substitutions
ESMS supports a configurable amount of players on the bench and of the amount of
substitutions allowed. The default is what currently seems to be the norm in
European soccer leagues - 7 players listed on the bench, and 3 substitutions
allowed per game.
The game engine itself performs automatic substitutions in certain occasions -
when someone gets injured for instance - to replace the injured player with a
substitute player from the bench. Additionally, if the team's Goalkeeper gets
injured or suspended (by a red card), ESMS will look for a way to substitute him
for another GK, or (if your team has done all 3 substitutions) move another
player to play as a GK.
--Home bonus
Just like in real life, teams playing at their home stadium have a little
advantage over the guests. They know the field better, the crowd is supportive,
etc. ESMS takes this into account and a certain bonus is given to home teams,
that is, everything else being equal (equal skills of players, formations and
tactics) a home team has a slightly higher chance to win. The exact amount of
the bonus, like most of the things in ESMS is configurable, and each league can
decide on its favorite bonus.
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--Teamsheets
Teamsheets are a way for the manager to control the game of his team. This
section explains in detail what one should write in the teamsheet and how the
teamsheet file should be structured.
--Structure of a teamsheet
A manager submits a teamsheet for his team before each game - where he lists
the players that will play and various orders for his team to execute during the
game. Here is a good place to emphasize that games in ESMS are off-line, the
manager gives all his commands before the game and sees the results after it
ends. There's no way to intervene during a game. This aspect is essential to the
nature of ESMS - administrators usually run all the games at once, without
intervention from the managers (otherwise it would just be a logistic mess).
Below is a template teamsheet, with explanations of what each field means. Lines
starting with ``//'' are comments for clarification, and should not appear in
real teamsheets.
[Team name]
[Tactic]
// Opening squad - a mandatory goalkeeper and 10 other players
GK [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
// The substitutes (here I use the default amount 7)
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
[Pos] [Name]
PK: [Name]
// Orders...
[Action] IF [Condition]
[Action] IF [Condition]
...
...
--Team name
The 3 letter abbreviation of your team. This tells ESMS what roster represents
your team.
--Tactic
The tactic your team starts the game with. You can give orders to change the
tactic later in the game.
--Opening squad
List of the 11 players that start the game and their positions. The first
player must be the team goalkeeper, and there can only be one goalkeeper. [Name]
is simply the player's name from the roster, and [POS] is his 3 letter position
- for example DFL, AMC...
--Substitutes
The players on the bench (I use here the ESMS default of 7 subs). Position
should also be specified for these players, as it will help ESMS in its
automatic substitutions. If your defender gets injured, you'd want ESMS to
substitute another defender for it, rather than a forward.
--Penalty kick taker
The primary penalty shooter of your team. If this player gets
injured/suspended/substituted, ESMS will find another player to take the shots.
--Player numbering
After you've specified all your team's players for the game, you can refer
to them in the orders by their numbers. The numbers start with 1 for the
goalkeeper and up to the last sub. For example, 11 is the last player in the
opening squad, 12 is the first sub, and so on.
--Orders
This is, by far, the trickiest part of the teamsheet. Orders are given in a
mini-language that tells ESMS what to do and when. Each order consists of an
action (what to do) and a group of conditions (when to do it). ESMS will execute
an order if all the conditions for it are satisfied. The actions in ESMS are:
TACTIC [new tactic]
Orders ESMS to change your team's tactic to [new tactic].
CHANGEPOS [name/number/position] [new position]
Tells ESMS to change the position of a certain player. You can refer to a
player by his name, number or by a position. If a position is specified, ESMS
finds the worst player on this position (worst - meaning with the lowest
relevant skill, for example Ps for midfielders).
SUB [name/number/position out] [name/number in] [new position]
Substitutes a player. Takes a name, number or a position of a player to take
out, just like CHANGEPOS. Additionally, takes the name or number of a player to
bring in, and the position he'll play.
The actions are still not full order lines, which should also include at
least one condition. In general, several conditions can be given, separated by
commas. The conditions in ESMS are:
IF MIN [sign] [minute]
If the game is now before, at, or after a certain minute. The allowed signs
are =, <, >, <= and >= with their usual mathematical meanings.
IF SCORE [sign] [score]
Specifies the goal difference between your team and the opponent's team. A
positive goal difference means you lead, a negative means the opponent leads.
For example 2 means you lead by 2 goals (e.g. the score is 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 and so
on). Similarly, -2 means that you lose by 2 goals. The sign has the same meaning
as in the MIN condition.
IF YELLOW [position/name/number]
If the player got a yellow card. If a position is given, any player on this
position counts. That is, for MFC - if any central midfielder got a yellow card.
IF RED [position/name/number]
Similar to the previous condition, but with a red and not a yellow card.
IF INJ [position/name/number]
Similar to the previous condition, but with an injury instead of a card.
To make things clearer, here are some sample orders with explanations:
TACTIC A IF MIN >= 45, SCORE =< -1
Tells the program to change the tactic to attacking if it is later than the 45th
minute and your team is losing by one or more goals.
TACTIC A IF MIN => 45, SCORE =< -1, SCORE > -4
Tells the program to change the tactic to attacking if it is later than the 45th
minute and your team is losing by one or more, but less than 4 goals.
CHANGEPOS J_Doe MFC IF MIN <= 20, SCORE >= 1
Changes the position of J_Doe to MFC if it's earlier than the 20th minute and
your team leads by one goal or more.
SUB MFC 12 DFC IF MIN = 60, SCORE => 1
Substitutes the worst MFC of your team for player 12 (that will play DFC) if you
are leading by one goal or more on the 60th minute.
CHANGEPOS FWC MFC IF RED MFC, MIN >= 50
Changes the position of the worst FWC of your team to MFC if some MFC got a red
card after the 50th minute.
--A complete sample teamsheet
To help you get started with writing teamsheets, here is a complete teamsheet
with comments (these // comments should not appear in a real teamsheet - they're
here just to explain):
// The team's 3 letter abbreviation is aft - meaning its roster is aft.txt
aft
// Start the game playing P - passing
P
// The opening squad: the formation is 4-3-1-2, note the side balance // of
players
GK T_Edua
DFL J_Balboa
DFC B_Ekse
DFC X_Solatti
DFR PJ_Plant
MFL I_Gustavson
MFR M_Fowler
MFC Morinho
AMC F_Longfellow
FWL M_Ecuarti
FWR I_Edo
// The subs
GK W_Pfarcec
DFC T_Vittorio
MFC D_Rombart
DFL M_May
FWL F_Iksandr
MFR C_Radulovic
AMC R_Berski
// Primary penalty taker
PK: I_Edo // Orders
// Change tired for fresh players on the 70th minute
SUB B_Ekse T_Vittorio DFC IF MIN = 70
SUB M_Fowler C_Radulovic MFR IF MIN = 70
// Change the worst DFC to play as MFC if we're not winning after the 50th
minute
CHANGEPOS DFC MFC IF MIN >= 50, SCORE <= 0
// The following 3 orders happen if the team is losing somewhere after the 65th
minute.
// It's an obviously offensive scenario: the tactic will change to Attacking,
we'll move
// a player up front from AMC to FWC and bring in another AMC instead of a MFC
TACTIC A IF MIN >= 65, SCORE < 0
CHANGEPOS F_Longfellow FWC IF MIN >= 65, SCORE < 0
SUB Morinho R_Berski AMC IF MIN >= 65, SCORE < 0
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