Play Designer

The Play Designer is UltiStackr’s interactive field editor — the place where your plays come to life. It gives you a full-scale Ultimate field, draggable player tokens, a disc, cones, and a complete set of tools for building anything from a simple dump-swing to a multi-option endzone set.

This page covers every element of the Play Designer so you can get comfortable with the workspace before diving into advanced features like multi-step plays and annotations.

The Field Layout

The Play Designer renders a regulation Ultimate field with accurate dimensions:

• Total field length: 100 meters (including endzones)
• Field width: 37 meters
• Endzones: 18 meters deep on each end
• Playing field (between endzones): 64 meters
• Brick marks: Located 18 meters from each endzone line

You can switch between two field views:

Full Field

Displays the entire 100m x 37m field. Best for:

• Pull plays and full-field transition
• Illustrating deep hucks and long-range movement
• Zone offense that covers the full width

Half Field

Displays one half of the playing field plus an endzone. Best for:

• Endzone offense and defense
• Close-range handler movement and resets
• Focused plays that don’t need the full field

Player Tokens

Player tokens represent the athletes on the field. Each token is a draggable circle that you position on the field to set up your formation.

Offense Tokens (Blue)

• Displayed in blue
• Represent your team’s players
• Up to 7 tokens can be placed on the field (matching a regulation Ultimate lineup)
• Each token can be labeled with a player name, number, or role (e.g., “H1” for Handler 1, “C3” for Cutter 3)

Defense Tokens (Gold/Amber)

• Displayed in gold/amber
• Represent the opposing team’s defenders
• Useful for showing defensive positioning, marks, and matchups
• Placing defenders helps illustrate how your offense reads and reacts to the defense

Positioning Tokens

To position any token on the field:

1. Tap and drag the token to move it to any location on the field
2. Release to drop it in place
3. Tokens snap to the field grid for clean alignment, but you can fine-tune position with small drags

Disc Token

The disc token represents the disc’s location on the field. It works just like player tokens — drag it to where the disc should be at the start of the play.

Common disc placements:

• With a handler after a pull
• At the brick mark after a brick call
• Near the sideline to set up a trapped-sideline scenario
• In the endzone for a goal-line stand defensive look

The disc token helps viewers immediately understand where possession starts and sets context for the entire play.

Cone Tokens

Cone tokens are visual markers you can place anywhere on the field. They’re perfect for:

• Marking drill starting positions
• Indicating specific field landmarks or reference points
• Showing where players should set up before the play begins
• Marking zones or boundaries in a zone defense

Drag cone tokens onto the field just like player tokens. They don’t move between steps — they stay as fixed reference points throughout the play.

The Toolbar

The Play Designer toolbar gives you quick access to all the tools you need. Here’s what’s available:

Undo and Redo

The Play Designer maintains a full action history. Every change you make — moving a token, adding an annotation, deleting an element — can be undone and redone.

• Click Undo in the toolbar (or use the keyboard shortcut) to step backward
• Click Redo to step forward again
• The history resets when you save and close the play

Panels

The Play Designer has several panels that provide additional controls and information. These panels can typically be toggled open or closed to keep your workspace clean.

Properties Panel

The Properties Panel appears when you select a token or annotation. It lets you:

• Rename a player token (e.g., change the label from “O1” to “Handler”)
• Change trail type for a token’s movement between steps (Line, Cut, or Curve)
• Adjust annotation properties like color, font size, or line style
• Delete the selected element

Timeline Sidebar

The Timeline Sidebar shows all the steps in your play as a vertical list. From here you can:

• See every step at a glance
• Navigate between steps by tapping on them
• Add new steps
• Clone or delete steps
• Create branches for play tree logic
• See which step you’re currently editing

For more on steps and branching, see Multi-Step Plays.

Roster Panel

The Roster Panel connects your play to your actual team roster. It lets you:

• Assign real players to token positions (e.g., assign “Sarah” to the H1 token)
• View player details like preferred positions and skill ratings
• Swap players between positions quickly

This is especially useful when you’re building game-day-specific plays with your actual lineup in mind.

Metadata Panel

The Metadata Panel stores information about the play itself:

• Play name — Editable from here
• Description — Add context about when and how to use this play
• Tags — Categorize plays (e.g., “endzone”, “zone offense”, “pull play”)
• Created/Modified dates — Track when the play was last updated

Huddle View

Huddle View is a specialized mode that shows your formation from a top-down perspective optimized for quick reference. It strips away the full field detail and focuses on:

• Player positions relative to each other
• The disc location
• The basic shape of your stack or formation

Huddle View is ideal for:

• Quick sideline reference during timeouts
• Teaching new players where to stand in a formation
• Comparing different formation setups side by side

Saving Plays

Your play is saved automatically as you work. You’ll see a save indicator in the top bar:

• Saved — All changes are persisted
• Saving… — Changes are being synced
• Unsaved changes — You have local edits that haven’t been synced yet (check your connection)

You can also manually trigger a save at any time from the toolbar.

Keyboard Shortcuts

For power users, the Play Designer supports keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflow:

What’s Next

Now that you know your way around the Play Designer, it’s time to add movement:

• Multi-Step Plays — Create sequential movement and branching logic
• Trails & Movements — Visualize player paths with lines, cuts, and curves
• Annotations — Add arrows, labels, and shapes to communicate intent