Hi all,
I'm here to post an update regarding the project. At the moment, my biggest issue is that I'm unfortunately unable to work on this full-time, so all work comes from the free time I currently have.
For the last year or so, I've been working on the AI, since it is what is going to be the backbone of the game, at least until multiplayer is added. This currently means a 4-4-2 formation, but once this is done, I can focus on others as well.
Here's what's working so far, via simulated matches. I also mention specific gameplay features, which you can perform as a player, these will be added later on, as the design is not set in stone and I am also hoping to get some feedback in the meantime:
* Passing, shooting, dribbling, through-ball.
These are skill and energy stat dependent, more about these later.
There are two types of passes, short and long. These can either target a player, can auto target one or more players who asked for the ball depending on what position they are in (e.g. how far are they from the goal, are there opponent players surrounding them), or pass in a direction if you are anticipating a teammate, or just want to pass the ball into the net from close range. Short and long passes are identical except for the passing distance, but they are likely going to be mapped to two different buttons for a quicker gameplay experience.
Shooting is perhaps the simplest from the player's perspective, as you can only shoot in a specific direction. This may or may not be dependent on the power stat, while the shooting skill will massively influence it. From an AI perspective, shooting happens based on several factors: near the goal, if there are no other available teammates, or passing would be too risky, i.e. the opponent's players are putting on pressure. Near the opponent's goal, or if there is a clear passage between the goal and the ball and the player feels that its worth the risk. This is either because the goal score is ideal, e.g. you're in the lead, there are teammates around to get the ball if it comes back from the keeper or its blocked, or when the score is not ideal and you have nothing to lose, etc. Later on, I need to expand this to shoot when the player is surrounded, preferably for a throw or a corner, if there is no other option.
Dribbling happens automatically as you move, however the dribbling skill influences how accurate this skill is, i.e. a lower dribbling skill can result in losing the ball. In this case, your defensive actions are available. You can also speed this up by running, which is useful if nobody's marking you, or you have open space in front of you.
Currently, defense does not have many options besides a sliding tackle (still not sure if this is going to be timed), but there are other defensive actions I'd like to add. Unlike in Fifa, I'm thinking about a semi-reaction-based system that rewards how well you recognize and anticipate what's going to happen, e.g. you pressure your opponent to pass when his mark is near, focus on making your opponent dribble the ball out of play or at least try to force your opponent to decide on something you or your teammates cover already, including the goalkeeper.
Most game rules are also in, including requests for a fast throw-in or a fast free kick, using the off-side rule defensively, penalty kicks, the referee getting in the ball's way, corner kicks and positioning, substitutions and stat and skill boosts at the beginning of the second half.
There are skills and stats, currently: dribbling, passing, shooting, as well as strength and energy. This is not set in stone, and there is definitely plenty to add and improve, such as aggressiveness, concentration, etc.
It is currently possible to set how far up the pitch the team should be, based on 4 quarters. The higher this is, the more susceptible a team is going to be to counters, and getting the ball past the defense in general. Counters are currently not possible, i.e. players won't try to create situations where they can outrun the opponent.
This is unfortunately not much, and there is still an incredible amount of work to be done, especially when it comes to gameplay.
Since the game itself is fast-paced, the most challenging part is to convey the position of players on the pitch, e.g. to know if anyone's running with you to assist, to know if there are opponent players around you, where the goalkeeper is, etc. We can automate a lot of this, e.g. only show you valid targets you can pass to, disable through balls if nobody is behind the opponent's defense, etc, but this would make the game feel like it's doing the work instead of you and you are accepting, rather than making choices. As always, any feedback regarding this and other aspects is always very much appreciated. We are creating brand new standards which simply don't exist in the world of audio gaming, so don't feel that we have to emulate existing mainstream titles. A lot of what they have would be quite impossible to recreate without overloading the player's ears via audio.
Regarding future plans, finishing the AI is top priority at the moment, after that, we'll see. The good news is that the AI and the game rules are the most challenging part of this project, closely followed by the gameplay design, so tackling these early will speed up development later on.
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Robjoy, AKA Erion
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