manual?

[Cederic]

Bought the game. No tutorial. Try an exhibition match. No tutorial.

Defence, can't tell how to switch between controlling a player and not. Can't ever escape contact, so the moment an opposition player touches me, that's that. The blokes I don't control do track the runners but never really block them, never intercept, never prevent a catch.

There are plenty of catches to try and prevent too. Their quarter back is unerringly precise in his throws, and the people he throws to never miss a catch.

Ok, makes for a high scoring game. Ah, I'm on offence.

If I hand off to a runner, he makes -2 to +2 yards. Ok, I can improve on that with experience.
If I pass, my a+ rated quarterback can't throw to the person he's meant to be throwing to, and on the occasions he flukes it they can't catch. Completed pass rate is barely above the interception rate.

I don't know how I'm meant to be aiming, I don't know whether to tap or press the button corresponding to the person I want to pass to, I don't know how to adjust between a high floating pass and a hard straight one, I don't know how to get it to actually go where it's meant to and I don't know how to get the chap catching it to actually catch it.

I lost 58-0. I have no idea how to improve on that scoreline in subsequent games.

Is there a manual?

[StickWillett]

No manual. Its been suggested but a huge endeavor for staff to put together from what I was told when bringing this up before. Fortunately, we have this Forum to post questions on strategies, techniques, and tips on how to play this game effectively and often times someone posts a reply to help a fellow player out......but what do you do in the meantime?.....lose 58-0? or just quit playing the game out of frustration? I eventually gave-up playing games in player mode for the same reasons that you mentioned are causing your obvious frustration and now I just play in coach mode and that has frustrations too but not as much as trying to manually control players with a gamepad etc and not knowing how to do it effectively and to be competitive to the AI. If you hang in there simplify your game experience level setting, turn-off the play clock, play exhibitions controlling the best teams, and by trial and error figure it out and be patient. I prefer letting my strategy choices control my outcomes and not rely on PC hardware and fast accurate manual dexterity to win a game!

[Alan T Wolf]

Not even a bog-standard bare bones simple read.me text file outlining basic control inputs?

Please at least consider that. Otherwise, I'm really loving this game considering I'm not even close to what you call a footy fan (of any football discipline) - My first taste of a Gridiron computer game was Madden 25 (the silver anniversary release). AXF23 is my first time playing Axis Footy and my second game featuring said football discipline, otherwise I've only ever messed around in Blood Bowl (2 and now 3). The Coaching mode is relatively concise throwing up the control prompts on screen, and that particular means of play is surprisingly satisfying as it is equally entertaining.