Overcast Online Help

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UPDATE

 This will be what the helmets look like with your mascot icon and division icon on them. Each helmet color will be based on the mascot choosen.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overcast Online created and written by Rev Jeff Henderson and John Ball
You are an OFL, Overcast Football League coach (American Football). Keep your team Fanbase up as you ride the bus trying to get to major stadiums in your district. Along the way you will be challenged to practice games with local teams who are also trying to take their team all the way to the top.

Once you reach the District ranking of 30 and the OFL Rank of Varsity Coach you will be given a stadium of your own to manage as a Managing Coach. You will be able to collect a portion of the gate. You will also be able to then play against other coaches who have brought their teams up through the ranks.
Thanks to some very cutting edge proprietary technology, you can install seats in your stadium that are best suited for fans that boost either the offense or defense. To install these seats, you need endorsements. You can buy endorsements or you can earn them while playing other managing coaches. Be careful because your fans can be lost due to fan frustration.


Overcast Online runs on the Dragon Knight game engine.
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Mascots

There are 52 Mascots to choose from. The mascot you choose will determine your career. Each Mascot helps the team by giving players a boost of Morale. Some boost the offesive players and others boost the defense. Still others boost both equally. Here is a list of all available Mascots. Mouse over it to see the mascot picture and click it to load its stats.
Anchor Bear Bearpaw BlackBear Bolt Bronco
Buccaneer Buck Buffalo Bull Bulldog Cardinal
Charger Cheata Cobra Arrowhead Crest Eagle
Elk Gator Hawk Horseman Husky Horseshoe
Jet Knight Lion Longhorn Moose Mustang
Owl Panther Patriot Penguin Piranha Pirate
Puck Ram Rebel Rocket ScreamingEagle Shark
Ship Skull Spartan Star Tornado Swords
Viking Wildcat Wolf Tiger    

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Divisions

There are six divisions in the game. The main differences between the divisions is the amount of Fanbase/Morale/Strength/Speed you have during game play. Below is a basic outline of each of the divisions.

1
  • Fanbase + (1-16)
  • Morale + (1-8)
  • Airfare + (1-6)
  • Strength + (1-10)
  • Speed + (1-8)
  • Offense + (1-10)
  • Defense + (1-8)
1a
  • Fanbase + (1-12)
  • Morale + (1-8)
  • Airfare + (1-6)
  • Strength + (1-8)
  • Speed + (1-8)
  • Offense + (1-8)
  • Defense + (1-8)
2
  • Fanbase + (1-4)
  • Morale + (1-10)
  • Airfare + (1-8)
  • Strength + (1-4)
  • Speed + (1-8)
  • Offense + (1-10)
  • Defense + (1-8)
2a
  • Fanbase + (1-16)
  • Morale + (1-2)
  • Airfare + (1-6)
  • Strength + (1-12)
  • Speed + (1-8)
  • Offense + (1-10)
  • Defense + (1-8)
3
  • Fanbase + (1-10)
  • Morale + (1-8)
  • Airfare + (1-6)
  • Strength + (1-6)
  • Speed + (1-8)
  • Offense + (1-10)
  • Defense + (1-8)
3a
  • Fanbase + (1-12)
  • Morale + (1-8)
  • Airfare + (1-6)
  • Strength + (1-8)
  • Speed + (1-8)
  • Offense + (1-10)
  • Defense + (1-8)
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Difficulty Levels

Overcast Online includes the ability to play using one of three difficulty levels. All rival statistics in the game are set at a base number. However, using a difficulty multiplier, certain statistics are increased. The amount of Fanbase a rival has goes up, which means it will take longer to beat them. But the amount of experience and cash you gain from beating them also goes up. So the game is a little bit harder, but it is also more rewarding. The following are the three difficulty levels and their statistic multiplier, which applies to the rival Fanbase, experience gained, and cash gained.
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OFL Ranks

Overcast Online includes the ability to attain Ranks within the Overcast Football League. When you reach the rank of Varsity coach, you may manage your own stadium.
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Playing The Game: In Stadium

When you begin a new game, the first thing you see is the Stadium screen. Stadiums serve eight primary functions: Booster Club, Talking with Staff, Talking with the Athletic Directors, Recruiting Coordinators, buying Airline Tickets, try to the vending machine, manageing your own stadium (Later), Sending/Getting Messages, and displaying game information.

To Boost Morale and increase your Fanbase, click the link at the top of the stadium screen. Each stadium booster club has a different price - some stadiums are cheap, others are expensive. No matter what stadium you're in, the Booster Club always serve the same function: they restore your current Fanbase, Morale, and Airfare to their maximum amounts. You can also access your Team Account. Out on the road, you are free to use a Rally to restore your Fanbase, but when you run low on Morale, the only way to restore it is at a Booster Club.

Hiring Offense Coordinators and Defense Coordinators is accomplished through the link. Not every Coordinator is available in every stadium, so in order to get the most experienced coordinators, you'll need to visit some of the stadiums farther from home. Once you've clicked the link, you are presented with a list of coordinators available at that stadium's HR Department. To the left of each coordinator is an icon that represents their type: Offense Coordinator, Defense Coordinator or Special Teams Coordinator. The amount of Offense/Defense experience, as well as the Coordninator's salary, are displayed to the right of the coordinator's name. You'll notice that some coordinators have a red asterisk (*) next to their names. These are coordinators that come with special attributes that modify other parts of your team profile. See the Coordinators & Trade Players table at the bottom of this page for more information. You also have a Team Account that works kind of like a bank. You can deposit Cash into it and come back to get it later.

You can also click to get Boarding Passes. Buying a Boarding Pass to a stadium places the stadium name in your Fly To box in the right status panel. Once you've purchased a stadium's Pass, you can click its name from your Fly To box and you will fly to that stadium. Flying this way costs Airfare, though, and you'll only be able to visit stadiums if you have enough Airfare. Or if you can ride the bus all the way there.

The final function in stadiums is displaying game information and statistics. This includes the latest news post made by the game administrator and the ComBox.

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Playing The Game: On The Road & Practice Games

Once you're done in stadium, you are free to hit the road. Use the compass buttons on the right status panel to move around. Your district is basically a big square, divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant is 250 spaces square. The first stadium is usually located at (0N,0E). Click the North button from the first stadium, and now you'll be at (1N,0E). Likewise, if you now click the West button, you'll be at (1N,1W). Rival levels increase with every 5 spaces you move outward from (0N,0E). NOTE: The First Stadium is at (1S,1W).

While you're On The Road, you will occasionally run into rival teams. As in pretty much any other RPG game, you and the rival team take turns hitting each other in an attempt to reduce each other's Fanbase to zero. Once you run into a rival team, the On The Road screen changes to the Playing screen.

When a practice game begins, you'll see the rival team name and Fanbase, and the game will ask you for your first command. You then get to pick whether you want to Hit, use a Play, or Forfeit. Note, though, that sometimes the rival team has the chance to hit you first.

The Hit button is pretty straightforward: you Hit the rival team, and the amount of Fanbase lost is based on your Defensive power and the rival offense. On top of that, there are two other things that can happen: an Excellent Play, which doubles your total Offense; and a rival dodge, which results in you causing no Fan Frustration to the rival.

The Playbook button allows you to pick an available Play or Rally and Execute it. See the Plays list at the bottom of this page for more information.

Finally, there is the Forfeit button, which lets you give up if the rival is too powerful. Be warned, though: it is possible for the rival to block you from Forfeiting and hit you. So if your Fanbase is low, you may fare better by staying around rival teams that you know can't cause much Fan Frustration to you.

Once you've had your turn, the rival team also gets a turn. It is also possible for you to dodge the rival hit and take no Fan Frustration.

The end result of a Practice Game is either you or the rival being knocked down to zero Fanbase. If you win, the rival team will give you a certain amount of experience and cash. There is also a chance that the rival will have Free Agents to Trade, which you can put onto one of the three roster slots to give you extra points in your team profile. If you lose, 1/4 of your cash is taken away - however, you are given back some Fanbase to help you make it back to the home stadium (for example, if you don't have enough cash to pay for the booster Club, and need to beat a couple low-level rival teams to get the cash).

When the practice game is over, you can continue on the road until you find another rival team to beat into submission.

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Playing The Game: Stadiums, Stadium Account and Away Games

You can manage a stadium of your own and plan conflicts against other player. Keep in mind that other players may also start conflicts with you.

You have a Stadium Account that works kind of like a bank. You can deposit Cash into it and come back to get it later.

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Playing The Game: Status Panels

There are two status panels on the game screen: left and right.

The right panel inclues your current location and play status (In Stadium, On The Road, Playing), compass buttons for movement, and the Fly To list for flying between Stadiums. At the bottom of the right panel is also a list of game functions.

The right panel displays some Team statistics, your staff, Free Agents and Quick Rallies.

The Team section shows the most important Team statistics. It also displays the status bars for your current Fanbase, Morale and Airfare. These status bars are colored either green, yellow or red depending on your current amount of each stat. There is also a link to pop up your list of extended statistics, which shows more detailed Team information. You can also view active PR campaigns and a list of all OFL teams.

The Quick Rallies section lists any Rally Plays you've learned. You may use these links any time you are in stadium or On The Road to Execute the Rally. These may not be used during practice games, however - you have to use the Play book on the play screen for that.
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Spoilers: Coordinators & Trades

Click here for the Coordinators & Trades spoiler page.

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Spoilers: Rivals

Click here for the rival spoiler page.

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Spoilers: Plays

Click here for the Plays spoiler page.

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Spoilers: Ranks

Click here for the Ranks spoiler page.

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Credits
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Please visit the following sites for more information:
Se7enet (Jamin's homepage)
Dragon Knight (official DK homepage)
Forums (official DK forums)

All original coding and graphics for the Dragon Knight game engine are © 2003-2005 by Jamin Seven.
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Powered by Dragon Knight by renderse7en© 2008 Rev Jeff Henderson