Excel TGI Football Game DELUXE Instructions & Help File The Excel TGI Football Game DELUXE is a training game that features your own questions in a realistic football game. Class participants learn while they play an interactive, exciting and fun game. This help file contains: 1. Game features and game screen overview. 2. Setup instructions. 3. Using the Questions database. 4. Miscellaneous. Game Features: Animated Quarterback & field graphics with ball and 1st down marker. Great game sounds. Plays the rules of American football (4 downs, TDs, Field Goals and Punts). Input your own training questions directly into the game. Handles up to 100 multiple choice, true/false or fill in the blank questions. Enter questions in up to 3 different categories. Attach a graphic, sound, text or any other file to any individual question. Game timer can be set from OFF to 4 hours. Questions database with many editing features. Works with Excel 97 through Excel 2007. Pop-up to make follow-up notes during a game. Ability to adjust scores during a game if needed. Manual End of Game option. Tie Breaker option. "Hail Mary" option removes one incorrect answer. Put your program name on the Scoreboard. Team play or single player mode. Add an additional 5 minutes of play option Questions can be presented sequentially or in non-repeating order. Two teams with up to 20 players per team. Players names appear in the game and on the scoreboard. Wait sound available on questions pop-up ("Times up, I need your answer"). Teams/Player chooses question category or difficulty. On screen Rules pop-up for facilitator and players. Name the Game (i.e. Acme Super Bowl Game). Add your Company Logo into the game. Page 1
Main Game Screen: When you press the START NEW GAME button, the crowd cheers as the coin toss takes place and the QB welcomes everyone to the game. You are now ready to play. Remember, before starting a game, you'll select setup options. We review the game setup option in detail below. The scoreboard keeps track of all the game stats. You can also see where the ball has been placed on the field as well as the first down line (shown above). You can review with your players the rules of the game by pressing the RULES button and clicking through the various tabs on this pop-up. A question sequence is started by pressing the RUN PLAY button. When a play is started, (optionally) a the QB pops up to call the play. Next, the Select Play pop-up is appears (shown below). Page 2
Now the team on offense selects the play they want to run. The top set of plays result in short yardage gains when selected and answered correctly. The middle and lower set of plays will result in medium to long yardage gains respectively. To add to the fun we suggest placing your more difficult questions in the lower categories. This Play Selection pop-up (shown above) also has options for kicking a Field Goal and punting the ball away. If the question selected is a match type or fill in the blank question this pop-up will appear. The team/player inputs a single word or number answer. Do not type in spaces or use caps. If a graphic, sound, additional text or a file is attached to this question, buttons will also appear on the pop-up. (Similar to the yellow buttons depicted in the below illustration). Strike 1 Option If the question is a multiple choice or true/false type question then the above pop-up will appear. As with the fill-in the blank question, if a graphic, sound, additional text or other file is attached, a yellow button will appear. On a multiple choice question, a grey button may also appear if a "Hail Mary" option is available. This option allows a team to remove one incorrect answer from the question. The Wait button plays a 10 second sound file that signals and encourages players/teams to answer promptly. Pressing the Correct> (A, B, C, or D) button next to a possible answer will advance the play. Page 3
After an answer is entered or selected for a question, we're off to the next screen for the play results. Depending on your answer, "Good" or "Bad" sounds play as the answer pop-up details the results (Player names appear within text). Here the trainer can review the correct answer and use any of the attached graphics, sounds, additional text or files attached to this question. Tip: You'll find your teams and players engrossed in the game. You have their FULL ATTENTION. We highly recommend using this opportune moment to expand the learning potential of the game by presenting additional information about the question, asking a follow-up question, posing a discussion point, or introducing a brief exercise. The 4 yellow buttons shown above allow you to easily play sound files (Note: A sound recorder is available in the game to record WAV files to use in the game), introduce teaching slides (PowerPoint slides can be saved as individual graphic files (JPG/GIF) and quickly imported into the game and attached to any question), add pop-up text (text for additional questions, discussion points can be added on the Question Database and popped up for that particular question during the game), or run additional files. Additional files might include a movie clip (AVI) or perhaps a (PPS) file (PPS stands for PowerPoint Show). A PowerPoint presentation can be saved as a PPS file and easily attached to a game question (imagine jumping to mini PowerPoint to support and emphasize the learning). Finally, if on-line you might want to import an on-line video file. When the question appears you can expand on the topic at the click of a button and provide your trainees with many ways to view and understand your program training information. We learn when we engage! The "Continue" button returns you to the field for the next player. The scoreboard will be updated to reflect the results. Page 4
Game Setup: The game setup lets the trainer ready the game for play. The game timer can be turned off or set from 15 minutes to 4 hours. The game will automatically end when time expires. The game clock works well for keeping you on schedule, but can be turned off if time is not an issue. The game will also end once all your training questions have been used, or you elect to manually end the game. Questions can be set to presented in sequential or non-repeating random order. Game sounds can be turned on/off. Game type can be set for team or single play (vs. the computer). Select the number (0-5) of "Hail Mary" options (to remove 1 incorrect answer). You can also enter a game name to appear on the top of the scoreboard. From the setup screen click "Team & Player Names" to optionally enter team and player names (below). Names appear in the game and on the scoreboard. Entering a team name is optional, however team names will default to the Red and Blue Team. Player names are optional. If no player names are entered, the scoreboard will show the player up as "Team Captain". Enter the players names from top to bottom. You can place up to 20 players on each team. Buttons on this pop-up will clear all the names or insert some sample names (Player 1, Player 2, etc.). Names should be entered sequentially, with blanks left at the bottom of the list (only). You may also insert your organization's logo to appears on the playing field. Finally from the setup screen you can access the Questions Database where your training questions are located. The Questions database can be password protected. Add Logo Screen: The import Graphic button will let you import a logo from your computer. Resize and move your logo to the white area. A preview window shows you how your logo looks on the field. The area below the Page 5
Game preview can be used to store other logos. The best logos to use are saved in GIF format with a transparent background and are fairly small in size. JPEG file format may also be imported into the game. Questions Database: The questions database has a separate help file. Press the? Button to get all the help and options available. Menu Button: The red MENU button located in the top left corner of the screen has many different functions. The Go to options will take you to different screens and pop-ups located in the game. It will also open the Notes pop-up where you can keep notes or comments during a game. Perhaps to capture follow up questions to be addressed at the end of the game. The Adjust Sounds buttons will let you adjust the volume level of the computer sounds. The Adjust Scores button opens a pop-up that lets you adjust the scores on the scoreboard. The Manual End of Game button forces the game to end. This is a great option if your game is running long and you need to wrap it up to stay on schedule. Page 6
The Tie Breaker option provides a solution should your game end in a tie. Click the Tie Breaker button and the computer will randomly select a winning team. The Restore Full Screen button will adjust the interface if needed during play. The Exit Game button takes you back to the opening screen and resets the normal Excel interface. From here you can exit the file. From the program's opening screen you can also import a separate set of questions into the game from a standalone TGI Questions Database.xls file or another TGI game. Miscellaneous Pop-ups: At the end of a game, this pop-up appears to let everyone know the game is over. If time has expired, a 5 min. overtime option can be played. When you access the Questions database, the above password pop-up appears. If no password has been assigned, click the "Go to Selected Sheet" button to continue. If a password has been assigned, it will be necessary to enter the password to continue. The right side of the pop-up is used to assign a password. If a password is assigned, make sure to write it down or remember it. Contact TGI if you require further password assistance. The Rules button on the field will display this pop-up (right). You can review the game rules with your trainees before starting a game. Page 7
Training Notes: Our training games are great tools to get your trainees involved in the learning process BUT they are only as good as you make them. As a trainer, you will need to prepare and setup the game to best reflect your training program. One of the greatest strengths found in TGI games is the ability to attach graphic slides, sound files, additional text, and other file formats to your training questions. These add to the learning potential of the game. For example, if a Powerpoint presentation is saved as a.pps file, it can be easily be attached to a question. This enables you to actually run a short Powerpoint presentation prior to, or directly after the question is answered. If the file attached is a Movie, Flash or.avi file, you can show a short movie or animation to support the question. The only type of file you can't attach to a question is another Excel file. Training is always more effective when people are involved and part of the process. With the features of this game, it can be used as a review tool after a presentation or function as an engaging means to present your program training information. Important note: Prior to launching the game we recommend closing all other Excel files. If not you run the risk of temporarily losing the normal Excel menus and interfaces. If this happens, close all Excel files on your computer. Open you TGI Game using the icon on your desktop. Press the START GAME button and the interface will move to full screen. Now use the MENU button to close the game. Click the Save & Exit button to exit the application and restore your normal Excel menus and interface. Final note: As a TGI customer you are very important to us. Please don't hesitate to call 602-750-7223 or e-mail (gary@training-games.com) with ANY questions, concerns or suggestions. Thank you from Training Games Inc. Page 8