I don;t know what Bort will do with it, but in my conception this is how it works.
A 'Package' is essentially a premade set of outputs.
So, if in the normal AI you could create an Input, with 20 Outputs and in those 20 Outputs you give each play a 5% chance of happening and you select the specific play you want to call... you have a 5% chance of calling each specific play? If you want to do that more than once, you have to create those 20 outputs all over again. Creating room for error, taking up a lot of space, making your AI take a long long time to load, etc.
Correct?
What the 'Package' would do, is add the option under your 'Outputs' to select 'Load Package' in addition to 'Select Play'. When you choose the 'Load Package' it gives you a list of the packages you have defined on a separate Tactics Tab (Like the DPC tab). These packages are completely user defined, and so you could call those 20 plays in a 'Package' but you only have to make that package one time, and whenever you refer to it in the AI, it pulls from that same set of plays and chooses one at random based on the percentages you applied to them. So you only have to create that set of plays a single time. Big time saver with your AI's.
So, if in my normal first down AI I create in input:
Input - 1st Down, Between my 20 and their 20, Any time, any score, etc (normal Input settings)
Output 1 - 20% Chance - I could say, run a Strong I run play. (Use the basic settings and choose Run, Strong I, leave the rest basic.
Output 2 - 20% Chance - I could run a Strong I pass play (Again, pass, choose strong I, use basic settings for the rest)
The reason I am suggesting the above is just to contrast with the next outputs.
Output 3 - 20% Chance - Because I REALLY like the Cross Up Play, I want to have a good chance of running it on first down. So I assign this Output and use the 'Select Play' function to specifically call that one play. Now I have a 20% chance to call the Cross Up.
Output 4 - 20% Chance - This time I want to run a certain set of running plays. So I use 'Select Package' instead of select play and I choose the '1st Down Runs' Package. This means there is a 20% chance I'll run a play from the package named '1st Down Runs'
Output #5 - 20% - I want to also have another set of passing plays (beyond those used above) so I use the 'Select Package' option and choose the '1st Down Pass Plays' Package. It means there is a 20% chance I'll throw one of these passes.
Previously, I created these two packages (so they would be in the list when I chose 'select package')
1st Down Runs Package:
The top portion of the Package has some of the basic information that a normal output would have. So you could define the behaviours of players in the play. Like Say you want the TE pass blocking left in all the plays in the package, you would set the TE Pass Block Left just like a normal output. Ideally the package would also contain the ability to set the depth chart for every position _except_ the QB.
The bottom portion is where you add plays. You could add any number of specific plays, and assign each play a % chance to be run. So lets say for 1st Down Runs you choose 5 run plays and assign each of those a 20% chance.
So when your AI calls the package (which it would 20% of the time, it then performs another roll to determine which of the 5 plays you have in that package it runs.
It then runs that play.
Its mostly just a way to help compartmentalise your AI's especially considering we're going to get a significant addition to the number of plays that can be run and sicne there will be occasions that you'll have many more choices from one formation, you can't very well just remove plays from the playbook (as you may want to run them too) so you need a way to be able to limit the playbook for certain situations (EG... Packages) That way you can keep all the plays in your playbook if you want, but limit them to being called in certain situations and since many of these situations would be repetitive in your AI, having you create it only once, and then just refer to it as a 'Lad Package' means you have to input quite a bit less in your AI.
Makes AI's smaller and easier to manage and when you need to modify something you modify it just once in the Package, and then its fixed for every Input that calls that Package.
Time Saver, Space Saver, Sanity Saver.
And the Defense should basically have the same ability. Create Defensive Packages. A set of looks that you may want to run in some situations, with the same personnel and basic settings, and since there are multiple 'inputs' in the AI where this may be applicable, you can call them by loading the package instead of having to create an AI output for each of the plays, multiple times in the AI.
This gives OC's and DC's a reat anount of flexibility as well, as they can change packages very easily so you could, as a DC for instance, have a set of packages you use against teams who really like to run HB Screens. But since another team likes to Air it out deep, you can have a defensive package set up for better long coverage. So, when you change your ai's you change just which package its point to for play selection and its done. You don;t have to go through lots of inputs and change even more outputs. Just change every instance of where that package is called and you are done.
Since packages can be assigned a percentage at the 'top level' AI You can use them interspersed with normal play calling.
So using defense again.
You could have your 'Basic Package' and this is your set of defensive looks you like to use against a formation. You assign this package say 50% so that half the time in that situation, you'll call one of your basic defensive plays.
Then you could have a 'HB Screen Defense' package, and you set that to 50% as well. So the other half of the time it calls a screen defense play.
But the next week, you face that different team, so you just change the 'HB Screen Defense Package' (Leaving the Basic Defense Package alone) to your 'Cover Long' package.
This allows your 'basic' defense to go unchanged and you only add in/remove plays that you specifically scouted the opponent for and you only have to do the AI changes in one output. Rather then having to change lots of outputs and do them on many inputs.