New football game in development!

[Menace]

Hello, please have a look here at a new game currently in development:

http://www.kimerastudios.com/footballgame.html

or here:

www.kimerastudios.com

There's also a forum where you can register and post ideas etc.

http://forums.kimerastudios.com/kimerafootball/

Here's some screenshots:

http://www.kimerastudios.com/footballscreenshots.html


I'd love to hear what you think of the project!

http://www.kimerastudios.com/gfx/footballgame/oct04/cover4.jpg

[luggage]

Hi

Screenshots look really nice, the footballers have a great style to them. Will be interesting to see how it comes along. Looking forward to the demo.

Scott

[ggambett]

Looks very nice!

BTW - I noticed this

Customise and save or load data in simple ".txt" files including:
tactics, teams (flag/club banner & kitdesigns) and player data (apperance and skills)
Editing .txt files is NOT user friendly nowadays - you should provide some kind of editor.

[Menace]

Thx for the nice words..

You have a point about the .txt editor not being user-friendly.. - but let me elaborate: The idea is that the game saves the file in .txt format - even from the in-game editor, so its possible to edit from within the game, but editing large files will be easier in a text editor..

[z3lda]

Game looks good, I like the style of the characters but why do all the characters look so mean?

[Jack Norton]

Cool seems a nice game.
Good luck with the computer AI... that will be very hard to make (don't mean to discourage you of course! :rolleyes: )

[ggambett]

Good luck with the computer AI... that will be very hard to make
You know, my experience is the opposite. One of our first projects, back when we made contract work for the American TV Network That Plays Cartoons And Shouldn't Be Mentioned, we made an isometric soccer game... and a believable AI was surprisingly easy to do. That is, with some simple rules and very little "state", the players behaved pretty convincingly. I had a lot of fun being mercilessly beaten by my own, supposedly stupid, AI opponents :D

[Jack Norton]

Uh well better for him then :) honestly I never tried to make that... but I alwayas hear that AI is the most difficult thing to do!

[Andy]

Uh well better for him then :) honestly I never tried to make that... but I alwayas hear that AI is the most difficult thing to do!

Common Jack - that's probably from guys who were developing it... So, sure they were trying to beat off the higher quota for their incredible efforts ;)

[Menace]

Once again, thx for all the nice words.. It's really encouraging! =)

I made them look mean - or determined because it looks fun, and if they looked happy or too cheery I felt it would look like they don't take it seriously.. - I hope that makes sense..

Regarding the AI, I feel that apart from the two-player (versus), the AI will make or break the game.. Hopefully the community will grow around our game and help us test it to get the best game possible.. We plan to include the tactics editor with the game, so players can mess about with that too..

[Andy]

Pardon Dennis!

Forgot to mention about your product... :o

Nice look. Very promissing.
But Sega Soccer Slam! on GameCube - that's your direct competitor in my mind. So it would require efforts from you Dennis... - I wish you good luck. I think you will need it amount with such project.

[Yossarian]

But Sega Soccer Slam! on GameCube - that's your direct competitor in my mind.

If that is his closest competition, I think he's found himself a great market. $14.95 on your PC beats the heck out of $45 on the gamecube, and not mention opens up a whole new audience available for it (like us Xbox and PS2 players that would never buy a gamecube).

[Menace]

I've only seen Sega Soccer Slam, not played it, but WoF will not have the over-the-top antics etc, it will be more down to earth.. The rules in the game will be like the real world rules of football, and there'll be no spectacular explosions etc.. The game should play like a "slowed-down" kick off/sensi game..

I believe we have a niche product (or will have - got to make the game first!)..
- but I do feel that there's a place for a game that's somewhere in between Sega Soccer Slam and FIFA/PES..


@Andy - np! =)

[Menace]

Btw., I admit to having cross-posted this topic on several indie-game-dev forums, to create attention and get feedback, but this has been by far the most friendly reception I've had - so... thx! =)

[grant@seriesone]

Looks great, I really like the proportions of the players, and the 'determined' look on their faces. :)

I used to love playing Sensible Soccer on my old Amiga, especially doing a long curve shot on goal, have you taken any elements from that game at all?

I know its early days, but what kind of spec machine will the game require?

[Menace]

What we want to do is create the opportunity to run with the ball.. Kickoff and sensi allowed that, whereas modern games quickly close you down.. - but running from your own pitch all the way to the other goal unchallenged shouldn't be possible.. or at least rare... - like a succesful counter attack with a free run at the keeper etc..

I'm not really able to answer this, but the game shouldn't be too demanding, and a current medium spec'ed machine should be able to run it with no problems.. From the in-game camera angles we've designed, its not necessary, or possible even to see a lot of the stadum, so this should be a big bonus to the rendering.. There's not a lot of textures either, so that should be good for the RAM.. -bear in mind however that I'm not a programmer.. but if all goes well we'd love to port it to a handheld console, like the PSP or NDS.. and the specs would have to be compatible with their limitations.. but that's very much speculation.. time will tell! =)

[grant@seriesone]

sounds very promising, good luck!.

[Menace]

sounds very promising, good luck!.

Thx! =)

A few more screenshots available here: http://www.kimerastudios.com/footballscreenshots.html

[Menace]

Here's a little animation of a penalty kick.. It's a mock-up, pre-rendered in max, but you get the idea.. Wink

DivX codec required, size 350kb

http://www.kimerastudios.com/gfx/footballgame/jan05/penalty_save_04.avi

[C_Coder]

On what platform did you get 16FPS in the 4 shadow screenshot ? That is quite intensive of the CPU/GPU. I would stick to one light if that makes the game smoother.

[BarrySlisk]

Well if it ain't my good friend Menace :)

I too like the screenshots and especially the look of the players. Almost dwarf-like which gives the game a cute look which could make all the difference sales wise. It sure makes me more interested even though I'm not that fond of soccer games.
The cute look makes me think that the game is easy to play and based on the actual gameplay and not (in my opinion) boring management (buying/selling players etc).
Just like the old Kickoff game. That was fun.

I realize that the game is not done but anyway.
The look right now is very.....clean.
For example the white lines which marks the playing field. They are too perfect. They should a bit more washed out. Same with the white wood in the goal. Perhaps the grass should be thin some places showing the dirt beneath. When making 3D never forget dirt, dents and "slitage" (danish word, don't know the word in english). Dirt is everywhere and it makes it look realistic. I know the game is cartoonlike but still....

[Menace]

On what platform did you get 16FPS in the 4 shadow screenshot ? That is quite intensive of the CPU/GPU. I would stick to one light if that makes the game smoother.

We're using Ogre on pc.. and yes, the four shadows were too demanding.. but it s still early days.. Rest assured however, that we'll go with smooth gameplay rather than fancy graphics.. :)

[Menace]

Well if it ain't my good friend Menace :)

I too like the screenshots and especially the look of the players. Almost dwarf-like which gives the game a cute look which could make all the difference sales wise. It sure makes me more interested even though I'm not that fond of soccer games.
The cute look makes me think that the game is easy to play and based on the actual gameplay and not (in my opinion) boring management (buying/selling players etc).
Just like the old Kickoff game. That was fun.

I realize that the game is not done but anyway.
The look right now is very.....clean.
For example the white lines which marks the playing field. They are too perfect. They should a bit more washed out. Same with the white wood in the goal. Perhaps the grass should be thin some places showing the dirt beneath. When making 3D never forget dirt, dents and "slitage" (danish word, don't know the word in english). Dirt is everywhere and it makes it look realistic. I know the game is cartoonlike but still....

Hey Barry, its a small world ;)

The players are about 1.70 meters tall and a bit butch or of big build if you prefer.. it gives them a more solid feel rather than the matchstick men you often see in footy games. The cute and easy feel is exactly what I hoped to achieve so thats nice to hear! Kick Off was actually really hard for new players, but once you mastered it, it was so deep 15 years on you can still find new ways to play it.. We hope to make the learning curve a lot less steep while keeping the depth.. no small order :)

Good point about the dirt.. I'll make sure to rough it all up without going overboard and losing the cartoony look.. ;)

[Menace]

I feel bad that we haven't shown anymore than we have, but we're cautious about making a first bad impression. Still, I couldn't resist putting together this shakey little teaser for you.. please believe me when I say this is only the beginning you're seeing here - there's much more to come.. :wink:

http://www.kimerastudios.com/wof/media/wof_teaser_07_2006_01.wmv

[vjvj]

Looks nice!

Reminds me a lot of a game idea I had a while back. I'm too chicken shit to make a football game as my second indie project, though.

[Menace]

Looks nice!

Reminds me a lot of a game idea I had a while back. I'm too chicken shit to make a football game as my second indie project, though.

Thx!..

The good thing about a football game is that its always popular - there's always a lot of football on tv or in hte media in general, so its easy to find inspiration and motivation on a day-to-day basis - which can be necessary during the "slow" periods where nothing works.. - Of course you have to like football also.. =)

There's also no secrets really.. everybody know what its about, and there's no story where you have to keep the player hooked etc. - much like a sandbox game really..

[superfrog]

The graphics it's very nice.

stay on see about the player ai and the playable style.