| ###########| ####| ###########| ####\ | ###########| ####| ###########| ######\ | ####| ####| ####| #### ###\ | ###########| ####| ###########| #### ###\ $$$ | ###########| ####| ###########| ############\ $$$ | ####| ####| ####| ##############\ $$$$,, | ####| ####| ####| ###### #####\,$$^$$*$$ $$$ | ####| ####| ####| ###### #####$$$ $$$*$,$$^ | ^^$$$$ | (^^^ ,^^, ,^^, ,^^, |^^ |^) $$$ | ~~) | | | , | , |^ |^\ $$$ | ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^ ^^ FAQ | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- Unofficial FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) FIFA Soccer 96 by Electronic Arts Release 1.0 Written by Guy Saner (fifa96@iscon.demon.co.uk) Send any contributions or queries to the above address. Contributors ------------- Ow Khiam Wei (eng50092@leonis.nus.sg) Thomas Yang (tgy119@mail.usask.ca) Coen van Duiven (c.p.van.duiven@pi.net) Stan Olson (solso@msilink.com) Thomas Niggl (thomsi@tcp.co.uk) Mark (pak06539@pixie.ci.za) --------- CONTENTS --------- [1.1] Features [1.2] Game Requirements [1.3] Command Line Parameters [1.4] Hotkeys [2.1] Team Setup [2.2] Tactics - General [2.3] Tactics - Attacking [2.4] Tactics - Corners [2.5] Tactics - Penalties [2.6] Tactics - Free Kicks [3.1] Cheats - Special Teams [3.2] Cheats - Enhanced Play Modes [4.1] Problems [4.2] Recommendations for FIFA 97 [4.3] Unanswered Questions [5.1] Controls - Offence [5.2] Controls - Defence [5.3] Controls - Ball in the Air [5.4] Controls - Out of Play [5.5] Controls - Passback Mode [5.6] Controls - Suncom SFX [6.1] Internet References [6.2] Revision History -------------- [1.1] Features -------------- Virtual Stadium technology. 15,000+ Words of commentary by John Motson. 3500+ Real players. 12 International leagues. 17 Player skill areas. League, Tournament, Playoff, Friendly and Practice modes. Hi-res SVGA mode. Custom team option. 15 minutes of full motion video. Multi-player option with up to 4 players via modem. 7 different camera views during play. Unlimited views during replay. 2 to 45 minutes per half. ----------------------- [1.2] Game Requirements ----------------------- Minimum (VGA mode): 486DX2-66 8MB RAM DOS 5.0 MSCDEX 2.21 or greater Single Speed CD 512K SVGA Video Card (VESA Compatible) Recommended (SVGA mode): Pentium 16MB RAM Gravis Gamepad, Gravis Grip or Suncom SFX SB AWE32 or Gravis Ultrasound 2MB PCI Graphics card Quad Speed CD Supported Sound Cards: Sound Blaster Sound Blaster Pro Sound Blaster 16 Gravis Ultrasound Windows Sound System Supported Languages: English (Commentary) Deutsch Francais Espanol Svenska Italiano ----------------------------- [1.3] Command Line Parameters ----------------------------- -? List parameters -f Skip FE -v Skip opening video -x Specify maximum amount of extend memory to use (ie -n8000) -d Specify maximum amount of DOS memory to use (ie -d500) -s Set Synchronization Rate (15-30) -p Specify path to save user datafiles -m Specify memory blocks used (default 250) -c Specify file for ball position comparison (for modem debug) -b Specify file for ball position data output (for modem debug) -yv Specify size of video buffer for FE -ya Specify size of audio buffer for FE -yq Specify size of que buffer for FE -zv Specify size of video buffer for GAME -za Specify size of audio buffer for GAME -zq Specify size of que buffer for GAME ------------- [1.4] Hotkeys ------------- F1 Tele cam (recommended) F2 Sideline cam F3 Cable cam F4 Endzone cam F5 Stadium cam F6 Shoulder cam F7 Ball cam F8 Sound toggle F11 Exit to DOS F12 Quit current game 1 Controller 2 Coverage 3 Formation 4 Strategy 5 Substitution 6 Game Statistics o Options r Replay g Goal Summary f Foul Summary - Reduce Screen = Enlarge Screen 0 Full Screen h Resolution toggle c Clock toggle n Player Name/Number/Off ---------------- [2.1] Team Setup ---------------- Formation: 4-3-3 gives a good balance of Defence and Offence. 4-4-2 is very good if the opposition have few defenders and you are skilled at passing and moving round players. Strategy: "All Out Offence" means that the forwards are always pushing towards the goal and have a better chance of scoring, the defence is not too good though. "Long Ball" this is very good for quick runs from a long lob up the field. Careful not to be Offside though. ----------------------- [2.2] Tactics - General ----------------------- 1. SPRINTING Instead of holding down shoot, lob or pass to run and then perform the action. Use the fourth button, Blue on Gamepad or B on SFX. This will then enable you to run faster. Do not use it all the time, but just as a tactic to get past the opposition. 2. PASS SHOOTING No this isn't a contradiction. The pass button is very versatile and can be used for shooting as well as passing. If you just hold the pass button down for a short time then the ball will be passed to the nearest player, unless you aim for another player, but if you hold it down for slightly longer than usual then the ball will be kicked in a straight line. This can therefore be used to kick the ball at the goal. It works best if you aim for the sides of the goal. For a virtually guaranteed goal, when one-on-one with the goalie, aim for one of the posts and then curl it with aftertouch towards the goal. This method of shooting has a much higher success rate than normal shooting and looks more stylish, but it does take a lot of practice to perfect. 3. BACK-HEEL Aim a Pass in the opposite direction to that which you are facing. The ball will be back-heeled to the player, instead of a normal pass. The ball has less power than a normal pass, so it can't be used over long distances. ------------------------- [2.3] Tactics - Attacking ------------------------- 1. CENTRE LOB (Ow Khiam Wei) Have a midfielder or defender to push the ball up after the center line, move to the left or right out of the centre circle and do a long lob forward curling it towards the goal. In the mean time, push a fast striker up front (sprint mode). Most of the time, the keeper can only parry the ball upwards (occasionally into his own goal). Then let the striker pounce on the ball and have an easy goal. 2. DIAGONAL LOB Make a forward or midfielder run with the ball down the wing nearest you. Make sure that he is close to the sideline. Then when you just see the penalty spot, turn diagonally towards the goal and do a long lob. Curl the ball towards the goal with aftertouch. Once perfected it nearly always curls round the goalie and goes in, or bounces off him and one of your forwards puts it in. You can do it from the far side of the pitch, but it is very difficult to judge the angle and distance. 3. CROSSING This is not mentioned in the manual. So incase you haven't done this yet. If you want to cross the ball towards the goal, run down the wing then turn towards the goal and press lob. The ball will land infront of the goal and one of your attackers should be there to header it in. Or (so long as you don't lob it too near the line) you can use aftertouch to curl the ball into the goal. 4. 180 SPIN When your forward is running towards the Goal and you only have one man to beat, just before you reach him, turn round to face the other way. Then the Defender will try to tackle you from behind, once he is quite close do a 180 Spin, by pressing Lob and Shoot together. Your player will spin round and take it past the him. 5. PLAYER LOB (Thomas Yang) Get the ball to a forward in front of the opposing teams goalie, make him run straight for the goal, when a defender comes head on to you wait till he's about two man's length away from you, then tap the Lob button and continue to run in the direction of the ball, and computer player will run back and try to head the ball but he'll miss, leaving you with a open lane and one on one with the goalie. 6. BACK TO GOALIE If you pass the ball back to the Goalie from one of your defenders he will then kick the ball far up the field. The ball should land just behind the defenders, who have moved up to the halfway line, and then you can take it one-on-one with the Opponent's Goalie. (see Pass Shooting, under General Tactics) ----------------------- [2.4] Tactics - Corners ----------------------- 1. EASY CORNER When taking a corner move the direction spot to just next to the far post. Then when the corner is taken one of your players will header it in. Works 50 percent of the time. Don't use aftertouch when the ball is in the air. 2. CURL IN CORNER (Thomas Niggl) Place the target circle at the height of the penalty point, just before the far post of the goal. Then shoot and quickly, after the ball gets in the air, point the controller in the direction of the goal (aftertouch). The exact timing when to hit the controller direction key is crucial. But after some training sessions you should be able to score every third or fourth time. Because you have to direct the aftertouch curve of the ball, you're not able to move another player in front of the goal. But even without it, your mid-forward sometimes heads the ball into the net. ------------------------- [2.5] Tactics - Penalties ------------------------- 1. TOP-RIGHT IS BEST The most successful place to aim, when taking a penalty, is the top-right corner. The goalie never seems to dive far enough to stop the ball. Don't hold the direction for too long or it will go too high and hit the bar. Choose one of your best strikers to take it. -------------------------- [2.6] Tactics - Free Kicks -------------------------- 1. LONG LOB When you have a Free Kick from somewhere in your own half then the opposition will all push up leaving a large gap between the defender and the goalie. Then move one of your forwards to just outside the goal area and lob the ball towards him. It probably won't quite reach him but will clear the defenders. Once he has it he can then have a clear run on goal. I have done this twice without an Offside being called. ---------------------------- [3.1] Cheats - Special Teams ---------------------------- To enable: -Hit the "QUIT TO DOS" button in the game select screen. -While the credit video is playing type "xplay [return]". This will take you straight to the Friendly Game menu with a new set of five extra teams, called the EA Superstars. Some of the players in these teams have special abilities. EA Superstars: All Nighters As Designed Strontium 90 The Gimps The Rod Benders ---------------------------------- [3.1] Cheats - Enhanced Play Modes ---------------------------------- To enable: -Go to the Friendly Team select menu. -For the team on the left choose Vancouver in the USA League. -For the team on the right choose Canada in the International League. -Now press CTRL-ALT-INSERT (as if you were rebooting the machine, but press INSERT instead of DELETE). This will bring up an Enhanced Play Modes menu with options to change various game attributes. Once activated using this method, it can be brought up again with F1. Enhanced Play Modes: BALL SIZE Normal-Big-Bigger-Biggest BALL PERSONALITY Normal-Curve Ball-Crazy Ball INVISIBLE WALLS Disabled-Enabled TEAM A/B- SIZE Normal-Big Player-Big Team JERSEY Normal-Beefcake-Suspenders-Muscle Shirt-Invisible Man GOALIE Normal-Lame PLAYERS Normal-Super Goalie-Super Defence-Super Offence-Super Team SHOTS Normal-Super -------------- [4.1] Problems -------------- 1. "Environment Variable Not Set" error message This problem is caused by the sound card variables not being set. Check that you have the lines: set SOUND=C:\BLASTER set BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 or similar ones in the file autoexec.bat. Without either of these the above error message will appear. This excludes running from Windows 95. 2. "File Read Error" error message This problem occurs when the game cannot find a file. This is normally caused by either: The FIFA 96 CD not being in the drive. or The CD drive not being configured properly. You will need to refer to the manual that came with the CD drive to solve this problem. 3. Drops back to prompt on loading. This happens when you don't have enough free memory. You will need to create a boot disk (see manual) or remove things like EMM386, QEMM, SMARTDRV, etc. from the configuration files. --------------------------------- [4.2] Recommendations for FIFA 97 --------------------------------- These are features that people have mentioned as being bad or missing from FIFA 96. -Save Replay Option (most important) -Custom Team Kit Editor -Create New Player Option -World Cup and European Cup Tournaments -Save Team Setup -Whole game more TV-like -Statistics for Assists, Corners, Free kicks, etc. -Better set plays with Free kicks and Thrown-ins -Better Menus with more On-screen at once -Better Manual -Improved Player AI for opposition and own team -Foul Stats include all fouls not just Bookings -Custom Formation Option -Improved Computer Difficulty with more variables -Computer players can clear the ball -Better Resolution for Players Close-up -Fewer Shots hitting the Crossbar -Commentator makes fewer stupid comments -Better Custom Team Option -Full management feature with Transfers, Finance, Sponsorship, etc. -Movable screen clock and score -Player Movement more fluid and realistic -Key Redefine Option -Player First Names and Pictures -Replay Editor to change and save Camera Angles -Stadium Clock works on replay -Tower Camera Angle for Gameplay not just Replays -------------------------- [4.3] Unanswered Questions -------------------------- 1. Is it possible to install the whole game to HD? 2. Is there a FIFA 97 planned? 3. What do some of the stange command-line parameters do? 4. How much better is the gameplay with a Gravis GRiP? ------------------------ [5.1] Controls - Offence ------------------------ .----------------------------. |Alternative Keyboard Strokes| |----------------------------| | Space Bar = D | | Control = A | | Alt = S | |----------------------------| Action | Keyboard | Joystick | GRiP | GamePad ----------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|---------- Control Ball/Dribble | Arrows Keys | Move Joy | Pad | Pad | | | | Pass | ALT + Arrows | B1 + Joy | B | Y | | | | Lob | CTRL | B1 + B2 | A | R | | | | Shallow Lob | ALT + CTRL | - | X | R + Y | | | | Shoot | SPC | B2 | C | G | | | | Drop Pass | Tap ALT | Tap B1 | Tap B+Pad | Tap Y+Pad | + Arrow Keys | + Move Joy | | | | | | Overhead Chip | SPC + ALT | - | B + C | G + Y | | | | Sprint | Hold , CTRL | Hold B1 | Z | Hold B | ALT , or W | | | | | | | 180 degree spin | SPC + CTRL | - | Y | R + G | | | | Aftertouch curve | Lft/Rgt Arrow | Joy Lft/Rgt | Pad L/R | Pad L/R | | | | Dive (if near net) | CTRL | B2 | C | G | | | | One-timer | CTRL | B2 | C | G (if away from net) | | | | ------------------------ [5.2] Controls - Defence ------------------------ Action | Keyboard | Joystick | GRiP | GamePad ----------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|---------- Tackle (Elbow if | ALT | B1 | B + C | Y near player) | | | | | | | | Push | SPC + ALT | - | A | G + Y | | | | Slide | CTRL | B1 + B2 | A | R | | | | Switch Player | ALT | B1 | B | Y -------------------------------- [5.3] Controls - Ball in the Air -------------------------------- Action | Keyboard | Joystick | GRiP | GamePad ---------------------|----------------|---------------|-----------|---------- Header, Volley, or | CTRL+Arrow Rgt | B1 + B2 | A | R Bicycle Kick | | | | | | | | Switch to Closest | ALT | B1 | B | Y Player | | | | ---------------------------- [5.4] Controls - Out of Play ---------------------------- Action | Keyboard | Joystick | GRiP | GamePad ----------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|---------- Lob | CTRL+Arrows | B1+B2+Move Joy| A + Pad | R + Pad | | | | Pass | ALT +Arrows | B1 + Move Joy | B + Pad | Y + Pad | | | | Cycle Camera/Pl/Etc | ALT | B1 | B | Y | | | | Position Target Box | Arrow Keys | Move Joy | Pad | Pad | | | | Select set play | SPC + Arrows | B2 + Move Joy | C + Pad | G + Pad | | | | Hide set play selctn | CTRL+Arrws+SPC| B1+B2+Move Joy| C+Pad+A | G+Pad+R | | | | Execute Set Play | CTRL | B2 | C | G | | | | Lob to Passback Plyr | CTRL | B1 + B2 | A | R | | | | Pass to Passback Plyr | ALT +Arrows | B1 + Move Joy | B + Pad | Y + Pad ------------------------------ [5.5] Controls - Passback Mode ------------------------------ Action | Keyboard | Joystick | GRiP | GamePad ----------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|---------- To enter passback | CTRL | B1 + B2 | A | R mode: Just after a | | | | pass | | | | | | | | To perform a passback:| CTRL | B1 + B2 | A | R Repeat | | | | | | | | Passback shot | SPC | B2 | C | G --------------------------- [5.6] Controls - Suncom SFX --------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | OFFENCE | DEFENCE | CORNER/THROW-IN/FREE KICK -----|-----------------|--------------------|---------------------------- X | Pass | Tackle / Player | Pass or Change Mode Y | Shoot | - | Set Play A | Lob / Header | Slide | Lob B | Sprint | Sprint | | | | X+A | Shallow Lob | - | - X+Y | Overhead Chip | Push | - A+Y | 180 Spin | - | - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- [6.1] Internet References ------------------------- *The Official EA Sports page http://www.ea.com/easports.html *Stan Olson's FIFA 96 page http://www.msilink.com/~solso/fifa96.html *FIFA 96 Modem Players Database http://www.msilink.com/~solso/fifadata.html This contains a large listing of FIFA players around the world who play via a modem link. It includes Email addresses, where they live and their preferred team. *Sports Games Newsgroup comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports This is where people discuss computers sports games like FIFA and is also the place to go if you have problems running it. ---------------------- [6.2] Revision History ---------------------- -Version 0.1 (beta release): Initial release to contributors and people on mailing list. -Version 1.0 (First release): Added Back to Goalie. Added Controls.