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Game client (FFB) introduction

Games organised via the FUMBBL website are played using the Fantasy Football Client (FFB). This page gives you a basic introduction to the game client features.

User interface overview

Screenshot of the game client (shows older ruleset but BB2020 fully supported).

1 This is the chat window where you can chat with your opponent.
2 The icons displayed here are for your Re-rolls and Apothecary, your opponents are displayed in the opposite corner.
3 This dialog window shows all the dice roll results for this game.
4 These icons show how many spectators are currently watching your game and the weather, on the opposite side of this display bar it shows the turn and half, and in the middle it shows the score.
5 This is where the Block Dice are displayed.
6 This window displays yours players skills. The skills in black are starter skills and the skills in green are skills that have been learned.
7 This Amazon Linewoman has been knocked prone.
8 This Amazon Catcher has been Stunned.
9 This Black Orc Blocker has not performed an action yet.
10 This Black Orc Blocker is translucent because he has already taken an action this turn.
11 The Orc Blitzer is performing a Blitz action.
12 Displays the two coaches playing, the game time and the tool bar. Have a look through the tool bar options in your first game to familiarise your self with the in game options.

Video by Mike Davies showing how the client works (video from several years ago, but much is still relevant)

Customising the appearance of the game client

The game client can be easily resized, just click on the "User settings" menu and then "Client size", more info on resizing can be found in the guide to client resizing.

To mark which skills each player has, just shift-click on any player and you can type in the skills (e.g. BDSh for Block, Dodge, Sure hands). You can also easily set up automatic marking of skills, you can define your own set of flexible rules for how to mark skills on your and your opponents teams. Please take a look at the guide for automatic marking for full details. Quick bonus tip, empty squares can be marked (e.g. help plan your moves) and marking players also works when spectating.

You can change the pitch orientation if you prefer a more table-top feel, (User Settings > Pitch > Pitch Orientation > Square mode). Both "Square mode" and "Portrait mode" will switch the pitch orientation from landscape to portrait, but "Square mode" is probably the one you want unless you have a need to run 2 clients side by side. Landscape mode does have the advantage of making greater use of your available screen space when using Windows zoom to make the client full screen.

You can experiment with changing the pitch setting, as this may improve your ability to see the players. In the menus "User Settings" > "Pitch" > "Pitch Customisation" > "Use Default Pitch". This gives the standard grass pitch which a lot of people find is the clearest. The 'Basic pitch' is also worth a try if clarity is the top priority.

Some of the weather effects can make the players difficult to see, if you have this problem, switch them off via "User Settings" > "Pitch" > "Pitch Weather" > "Always show nice weather pitch". There is still an icon which reminds you what weather is in effect.

Team logos can also sometimes make the players very difficult to see. To switch them off go to "User Settings" > "Pitch" > "Team Logo" > "Show no team logos".

Turning on "Pitch" > "Pitch Markings" > "Pitch Markings on" can be very useful as it shows movement required to reach the endzone from every square along the top and bottom of the pitch.

By default, 'used' players are shown as slightly faded, if this is not clear enough you can enable an option that will show a green check mark next to each 'used' player. "User Settings" > "Mark used players" > "Green check mark".

In-game Information

• You get a lot of info within the client about the current game-state. Particularly:

• 0 Rsv, 0 Out. Click these little grey buttons to see each team's dugout

• Icons in the bottom corners. Mouse-over these icons to see each team's Rerolls, inducements, etc

• Inducements menu. Same info as you get in the bottom corners mostly. Useful summary, and good if you're spectating and want to see the game setup

• Game menu > Game Statistics. Bit of a distraction, but can be useful to keep track of number of blocks given / taken etc

• Missing Players. Useful to see where that other blitzer is

• Mouseover players or clicking players lets you see their details. If they're in the dugout injured, then mouseover lets you see what happened to them

• A red dot on the player's card below their name indicates they're Niggled. One dot per niggle

In-game Actions

• To start the game you need to set up your players, do this by dragging 11 of them from the left-side dug-out onto the pitch, then click 'End Setup'

• When it's your turn, to activate a player you left-click them, select an action

• You need to decide which Action you're going to do first (eg blitz, pass, handover, foul, move, block etc)

• If you selected the wrong Action and have started moving / rolling dice, then you can't change your mind. If you didn't start, you can de-select them by clicking on the player again, and change it

• If you want to Block, activate your player then click on target opponent player

• If you want to do a special Action like Hypnotic Gaze, Stab, Vomit etc then you start this like a normal Block, and then when you click on target opponent player, you get the choice of how to attack them

• If you want to Blitz a player, you need to nominate the target first before you move, as it can't change once you start

• If you want to Pass, Handover, Throw Teammate etc, this must be specifically chosen as the Action when you activate the first player. You then click on target teammate

• Don't forget all players can Leap, this option becomes available if they're next to a prone or stunned player by clicking on your active player

• To deactivate your player, click on them again at the end of their turn

• For the block dice preview, 1x little square means 1 dice, 2 squares is 2 dice, 3 squares is 3 dice. If the squares are green then you're selecting the result (good), if the squares are red the opponent is selecting the result (bad)

Other tips

• Be careful with your right clicks. Many coaches are used to the convention that right clicking will cancel whichever action they were performing but FUMBBL has various modes you can choose from to decide how you want the right click to behave. To avoid any issues, go to "User Settings" > "Right Click Behaviour" and set it to "Disabled" and you will make fewer mistakes.

• Turns last for 4 minutes, after that time an optional "Time out" button will appear for the player who is waiting. Do not use the "Time out" button until you're sure what the rules are for using it in the division / league you're playing in.

• Learn more by playing a game against yourself in Test mode.

• If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, they're listed in the 'Help' menu, under 'Keyboard bindings'.

• When spectating you can type things like /cheer into chat to get sound effects (the full list are under the 'Help' menu, 'Chat commands')

• To see a list of everyone spectating, type /specs, this works for both spectators and players. Or mouse-over the spectator number to see it in a pop-up

• Team Setups can be configured in-game, via the 'Team Setup' menu. This can be used to save your preferred lineup formation of your team for later re-use, which saves time

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Next page: Choosing skills