1. I can't find these plays in Madden. Where are they?
  2. Can you send me your complete playbook?
  3. Can I download a playbook file instead of entering all of the plays manually?
  4. How do I use the playbook I made? Can I use these plays in Season/Franchise modes? (Updated)
  5. Can these plays be used online?
  6. How can I create play action passes/reverses, HB passes, flea flickers, etc.?
  7. How can I send backs/receivers in motion? Why don't my defensive line shifts, linebacker shifts, or coverage audibles work?
  8. How can I set permanent audibles for custom playbooks in Madden 2004?
  9. How can I set permanent audibles for custom playbooks in Madden 2005?
  10. Can I import a custom playbook from Madden NFL 2003/2004 into Madden NFL 2004/2005?
  11. Do you know of other sites that have custom plays? (Updated)
  12. How did you create the diagrams for your site?
  13. What team/player/playbook is best?

  1. I can't find these plays in Madden. Where are they?

    They aren't built into the game. I created them using the Create-a-Playbook feature included since Madden NFL 2003. To use them you need to create your own custom playbook and enter them yourself.

  2. Can you send me your complete playbook?

    Sorry, but no. I don't release my plays to the public until they are completely written up, and that is not done until each play has been thoroughly developed and tested. The plays available on my site are the very best from my playbook. Use existing plays or create your own plays to fill out your own playbook.

  3. Can I download a playbook file instead of entering all of the plays manually?

    No. I play Madden on Nintendo Gamecube (which also means I cannot play online, :-( ), so there is no way form me to make a downloadable file which would work on the PC version. Sorry.

  4. How do I use the playbook I made? Can I use these plays in Season/Franchise modes?

    Custom playbooks can be used in any gameplay mode (not online though). To use the custom playbook you've created, you must select it at the same screen where you select which team to play as by moving the large controller icon to one side or the other. The playbook option is right under the option to select an alternative uniform for your team. Custom playbooks are always at the bottom of the list.

    Update for Madden 2006: in their great "wisdom" the powers that be at EA Sports have decided, apparently due to new online features included in Franchise mode, that custom playbooks would be disallowed from Franchise mode just like they've previously been disallowed from other forms of online play. This was even done in non-online enabled franchises, though this may be a simple (but very serious) oversight on EA's part.

  5. Can these plays be used online?

    Apparently not. EA seems to think that allowing custom playbooks online would lead to increased cheating, or at least cheesing, so it's not allowed. There might be problems, true, but I think EA would be better off letting their customers decide whether they want to participate in games which allow custom plays.

  6. How can I create play action passes/reverses, HB passes, flea flickers, etc.?

    You can't, at least not from scratch. I would love it if you could, but EA probably felt it would make the playbook maker too complex, or something.

    What you can do is modify exiting plays that have the special actions (what I call specialty plays) you want in your own custom play. Here are the necessary steps:

    1. Find an existing formation with at least one specialty play in it. Copy that play (and any more like it you might want to modify in the future) into your custom playbook. The play's formation will be automatically added to your playbook unless it is already present, so you usually must have at least one free formation slot.
    2. Modify the formation to whatever shape you want you want, but be careful about how you move around positions that perform the special actions. Some trial and error may be necessary to get this part right. Rename the formation to something unique.
    3. Modify the copied specialty plays into new plays. DO NOT change the actions of players using special actions, because once they're gone you can't get them back.

    That's it. It's a very limited process but it's the only way that works. You have to pick out not only a formation to modify but also an entire set of plays to copy because once you've modified or renamed the formation you can no longer copy existing plays into it. See the New Formation Creation Guide for more details on how to plan your custom formations for any future modifications.

  7. How can I send backs/receivers in motion? Why don't my defensive line shifts, linebacker shifts, or coverage audibles work?

    Motions on offense, and line, linebacker shifts and coverage audibles on defense are all built into specific formations. Unfortunately, the Create-a-Playbook formation maker doesn't allow these to be specified. For this reason all custom formations should be derived from a similar existing formation so that motion, shift and coverage capabilities carry over. See the New Formation Creation Guide for details.

  8. How can I set permanent audibles for custom playbooks in Madden 2004?

    This is a bit tricky in Madden 2004. In the forums steelers4life posted the following method that is reported to work on PlayStation 2 and I have confirmed works on Gamecube, though at least one person I suggested it to replied it does not work on PC.

    1. Start a new game with custom playbook selected.
    2. Set your audibles under the Coaching Strategies menu.
    3. Select Quit/Save from the menu. The playbook audibles have been set for will be marked as changed. Save the playbook. Next time you choose this playbook, the audibles will be as you set them

    If anyone gets this or any other method to work on the PC version, let me know.

  9. How can I set permanent audibles for custom playbooks in Madden 2005?

    Unfortunately this does not appear to be possible. The method described above for Madden 2004 (which was more difficult than the method in Madden 2003) is broken in Madden 2005.

    Maybe if EA ever gets their act together they'll realize that players who make their own plays are some of their most devoted gamers, and that it might be a good idea to actually test features like audible with custom playbooks, but until the Create-a-Playbook feature becomes more popular I'm afraid we can't depend on it to be implemented in a consistent manner, as this downward spiral shows.

  10. Can I import a custom playbook from Madden NFL 2003/2004/2005 into Madden NFL 2004/2005/2006?

    No. You'll just have to re-enter your plays and formations. Having them written down is pretty much essential to get this done.

    Note: I'm not sure if this holds true on PC version. If this information is wrong let me know.

  11. Do you know of other sites that have custom plays?

    None that are worthwhile. Before I started this site I figured there would be all sorts of websites featuring the great new Create-a-Playbook feature included in Madden 2003. There are plenty of Madden sites out there, but hardly any with good, original plays. The closest I've seen is a site where people could upload their own plays, no diagrams, bad descriptions, and probably no quality control to separate good plays from bad. When this was all I could find, I decided to start my own site featuring only top-quality plays with exact specifications, good diagrams and deep analysis.

    Update: One site out there is The Coach's Desk at football-freaks.com. I haven't personally tested the plays there but I've heard that they're quite good. Unfortunately the plays are mostly designed around modifications to built-in plays and formations and the site has not been updated since Madden 2004, so constructing the playbooks on more recent versions of Madden may be a bit difficult. In the Football Freaks forums there is some limited discussion of custom playbooks as well as sharing of custom playbook files for Madden on the PC.

  12. How did you create the images for your site?

    Besides being a gamer and football fan, I'm also a software developer. I wrote my own small software package for generating diagrams from small text files describing formations and plays. I then process the images in the free GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) software package before including them on my site.

    A few people have asked me if they could have a copy of the software. I don't mind sharing, but there are a few issues that would prevent it from being useful for most people. They are:

    • I run Linux, not Windows, on my PC. This means that an executable version of my software probably won't work on your computer.
    • I could give out the source code, which can be compiled into an executable on almost any platform, but most people don't have the software development tools necessary to do this.
    • The code isn't complete. it will successfully create diagrams for all of the plays on my site so far, and most other plays you could make, but certain actions such as particular running steps are not included because I haven't used them yet, and I don't want to include actions that I don't have a play to test with.

    If you're still interested in the software despite all of these issues I'd be willing to send it to you, but don't come asking for any support or bug fixes.

  13. What team/player/playbook is best?

    I probably don't know. I may the guy to ask about innovations in football plays, but there are probably thousands of other football fans and gamers out there that know more about player stats and abilities, especially when it comes to versions of a specific video game, than I do. Try asking in the forums instead.


Contact Arkaein with any comments or questions regarding the Monstrous Madden Playbook.