How to make a single league with playoffs(Modern Relic)

[Steve Kuffrey]

Here goes:

I want an eight team league with two four team divisions. So first, go to "Create Custom League."

Set the league up in this way:

League Structure:
Number of Leagues: 2
Number of Divisions in a League: 1
Number of teams per division: 4 (note: since each league requires an even number of teams, this will not work if 10 teams is your goal, you'd have to jump up to 12)

Under League options:
Set this any way you desire. Although this procedure is intended for fictional rosters, I will address how it can be used with real players at the end of the post).

At this point, I like to randomize the cities, or type in the custom ones I want.

Now click on "Generate League."

After the league is generated, go into League Setup and make any tweaks you desire. This is where I would disable financials/coaches, etc.

Under the League Name and Rules Section:
Treat the "League Name and League Abbreviation" sections as if they were Division names instead. Erase the fields under division names so they will be blank. The idea here is that the two leagues will represent the two divisions.

Now it's time to do whatever preseason stuff needs to be done. Since I turn off financials and scouts, this only consists of the imitial draft. If you need to, run your coaches hiring, etc first. When ready, let the computer run the initial draft. It doesn't matter since you will be resetting the league later anyway.

Ok, now we're getting into the nitty-gritty.

Go back into league setup and from there go into "edit league structure. Add a division to "division 1." Then add 4 blank teams to that division. Leave them unnamed so you can tell them from the teams you'll be keeping.

Your screen should look like this:
http://www.modernrelic.com/screen1-web.jpg



Now, swap the four new "empty" teams with the four teams from division 2:
http://www.modernrelic.com/screen2-web.jpg



Now it's time to go back into league setup and select "edit schedule."

Generate a new schedule with whatever parameters you wish.

Now the new teams will show up in the schedule. They should be listed at the bottom, like so:
http://www.modernrelic.com/screen3-web.jpg



We're getting done, hang in there!

This is the tedious part. Delete all the games for the new teams. I know, but it's not that bad. IMPORTANT: Don't miss any games in this step. Make sure to delete any game involving a blank team.

Go back into edit league structure. Swap the blank teams back with the originals. Your screen should now look like it did in the second screenshot I posted.

Delete the new division with the blank teams. The game will tell you that the players have been dumped into the FA pool, but those teams were empty.

Final step: Go back into league setup and select "reset, release all, and draft." Now, do your draft and you're good to go! You can test sim a season to make sure it works ok, but remember to set your league to "replay" mode first, so as not to screw up player development simply for a test run.

What you now have is a setup in which each "league" represents a division within a single league. All teams will play each other approximately the same number of times, so you get to see all the players/teams, not just the guys on the other 3 teams in your "league". Yes, you will have seperate "divisional leader" columns, but when viewing the League Leaders just stay on the combined view. This, to me, is a small price to pay.

A note regarding historical or real player leagues:
Although I have not tested it, his method should also work for any 19th century real player simmers as well. Simply create the league with the exact same setup (remember, 10 team leagues won't work). When your league is at the stage shown in screenshot 1, simply delete the fictional teams and import the real teams one at a time. Then proceed as described above. Don't forget to delete the fictional players from the FA pool.

I hope this is of some value. I know it's a bit of a compromise, but it gets the job done, for me at least. If this helps, enjoy!