Super 8 Football

Super 8 Football is an American football game using real NFL teams and players. There are 8 playoff teams from last season made up of 16 players with 8 on both offense and defense.  The game requires two players, but I hope to have a one-player version available in the future. I decided to release this version because it's doubtful I will get much work done during football season, and the playoff teams from last year won't be relevant much longer.

Adjustments for viewing Options

Using an LCD or OLED TV with theC64

This game makes heavy use of interlaced graphics which are handled quite well on most modern TVs especially using emulation.  To help reduce flicker set your TV to Movie Mode.  This will usually help blend in the alternating frames.

Using a 1702 Monitor with a real Commodore 64

Turn the contrast all the way down and the brightness up slightly to compensate if necessary.  Then reduce the color to avoid oversaturation.

Loading the Game

After attaching the disk image for emulation or inserting a real disk into your disk drive type:

load"*",[drive#]

then press return.  Then type Run and press [return] after loading.

After the program loads, you will be presented with the Game Screen with four joystick-selected options

TEAMS

K.C

PHI

PLAY

You can select PLAY to play the two Super Bowl teams from last season or you can select TEAMS to load two other playoff teams. Selecting the team's abbreviation for example K.C for Kansas City or PHI for Philadelphia will let you view/edit TEAM and PLAYER attributes.

Playing a Game

To start a game select PLAY from the menu by using the Joystick in port 2

Coin Toss will determine who gets to decide to receive or defer to the second half. After the coin toss you'll be presented with the option of 8 plays to select on offense and defense. Above the plays is the scoreboard that shows the score for each team, the quarter and the time left in the quarter. You'll also see the words offense with a joystick number to indicate which team has possession with the other being on defense. The down, distance and yardline are indicated beneath the plays. 

Selecting Plays

To select the top row of plays press and hold the fire button indicated by (O) on the screen then press the joystick in the direction indicated by the arrow underneath. To select the bottom row of plays press and hold the direction first then press the fire button. 

On defense you are selecting the play you think the offense will select and if you guess right you'll get a super quick defensive effort from your team that will be difficult for the offense to overcome.

Playing Offense

To start the play press and hold the fire button until the ball is hiked. After hiking the ball you'll see a blinking black and white arrow indicating which receiver is selected. If you want to throw to that receiver then hold down the fire button until the pass is thrown. If you want to select a different receiver then gently tap the fire button and the next receiver down the screen will be selected. After selecting your receiver you'll have to press and hold the fire button again to throw to that receiver. This can be very tricky at first but since the progression always starts at the top of the screen it will get easier after practice to quickly tap 1, 2, or 3 times to select the other receivers and then press and hold fire again to throw.

Completing Passes

The key to completing passes is timing.  You'll will need to wait until the receiver has cut on his route. The deeper the turn the more you'll have to wait. You can almost anticipate the slant (45 degree turn) routes but the others require more time for the receiver to regain his speed.

There are no handoffs, but you can take off and run with the ball as the quarterback at any time.  However, once you break outside one of the two outside linemen the offense won't be able to contain the defensive on that side, so it's better to take off immediately to run the ball before the protection breaks down.

Playing Defense

On defense, you are the middle linebacker that's indicated by a number above the player before the ball is snapped. As this player you will need to read the quarterback to determine if you need to stop him from running or throwing to one of the receivers by helping cover that receiver. The defensive player can dive for the ball carrier by holding pressing the joystick in the desired direction and holding down fire. If contact is made the ball carrier is brought down immediately without a Tie Up.

Tie Ups

If the ball carrier gets close enough to an opposing team's player they get in a Tie Up. The player with the ball can try and break the tackle by repeatedly pressing the fire button.  Likewise the player not possessing the ball can try and tackle the player by repeatedly pressing fire.

4th down

If the offense stalls with a 4th down then you'll be presented with the option of either punting (PUNT) or Field Goal (GOAL).  The default selection is YES and if you need to choose that option then just press fire.  To select NO and go for it press the Joystick to the right and then press fire.

If time remaining in the second or forth quarter gets below 10 seconds and you're in range for a field goal you'll be asked GOAL>YES. In the fourth quarter the field goal will either have to tie or go ahead for the prompt to be presented.

EXTRA POINT (GOAL) or TWO POINT CONVERSION

After a touchdown you can kick the extra point by pressing fire when presented with GOAL>YES or press the joystick to the right to change to GOAL>NO and press fire to go for two points.

NOTE: All kicking in Super 8 Football is simulated with odds of making it being greater the closer you are to the goal line.