New Beginnings
So with development on NSS3 all but finished I can at last start looking to the future. Ok, so I need to release a new version of NSS3 with a database update at the start of the new football season, and ok, there are a few loose ends to tie up with Sensational Soccer which will also be ready for the new season, but despite these things work has already begun on NSS4. HOORAY!
And already the emails are coming in... "When NSS4 be out??!!" "Will my NSS3 code work with NSS4?" etc etc ("Only God knows" and "No" are the answers by the way.) I've taken the huge decision to completely re-write NSS4 from scratch which means at this moment in time I stand at the foot of a very large mountain, and whilst I'm aiming at completing work around this time next year it really is impossible to know whether that is realistic or not. It certainly won't be sooner, I know that much. I envisage it taking 6 months to just get NSS4 to a stage similar to where NSS3 already is. "So why rewrite it?" I hear you ask? Well here are a few reasons...
1) NSS3 is built upon NSS2. NSS2 was built upon NSS1. NSS1 was only my second game and as such is coded very poorly. This makes NSS3 the proverbial house built on sand and to continue building could cause the whole thing to sink without a trace. Disaster!
2) NSS3 looks, well, plain ugly. I admit it. NSS4 will be built with style and functionality in mind. I'm no artist but i'm prepared to pay people who are to make NSS4 compete graphically with commercial games.
3) NSS3 is basically a windows application bolted onto a Blitz Basic match engine. It's just really clumsy and I hate having to pass data from one app to the other. Therefore NSS4 will be a single application that contains the off-pitch activities and match engine all in one glorious exe.
So work has begun and already the database editor is coming together. I can't wait to get stuck in with the game proper, bringing the data to life. I have learnt so much since I started World Cup Manager way back in 2002 and now is the time to start afresh and pull all that knowledge together and bring you one of the greatest football games ever made. That's the dream anyway. I can see the finished product in my mind and it sits at the summit of this mountain before me. Now, where are my climbing boots...
And already the emails are coming in... "When NSS4 be out??!!" "Will my NSS3 code work with NSS4?" etc etc ("Only God knows" and "No" are the answers by the way.) I've taken the huge decision to completely re-write NSS4 from scratch which means at this moment in time I stand at the foot of a very large mountain, and whilst I'm aiming at completing work around this time next year it really is impossible to know whether that is realistic or not. It certainly won't be sooner, I know that much. I envisage it taking 6 months to just get NSS4 to a stage similar to where NSS3 already is. "So why rewrite it?" I hear you ask? Well here are a few reasons...
1) NSS3 is built upon NSS2. NSS2 was built upon NSS1. NSS1 was only my second game and as such is coded very poorly. This makes NSS3 the proverbial house built on sand and to continue building could cause the whole thing to sink without a trace. Disaster!
2) NSS3 looks, well, plain ugly. I admit it. NSS4 will be built with style and functionality in mind. I'm no artist but i'm prepared to pay people who are to make NSS4 compete graphically with commercial games.
3) NSS3 is basically a windows application bolted onto a Blitz Basic match engine. It's just really clumsy and I hate having to pass data from one app to the other. Therefore NSS4 will be a single application that contains the off-pitch activities and match engine all in one glorious exe.
So work has begun and already the database editor is coming together. I can't wait to get stuck in with the game proper, bringing the data to life. I have learnt so much since I started World Cup Manager way back in 2002 and now is the time to start afresh and pull all that knowledge together and bring you one of the greatest football games ever made. That's the dream anyway. I can see the finished product in my mind and it sits at the summit of this mountain before me. Now, where are my climbing boots...
posted by newstarsoccer.com at
8:19 AM
6 Comments:
Hi!
That's a great news to hear that you want to improve the game.
By the way, I'm French and if you would like me to help you in updating the french league database, i'm ok!
Let me know
By
Patty77, At
8:36 AM
Best of luck, Si.
By the way, that mountain isn't Everest. It's Olympus Mons. You know, the bugger on Mars that's actually wider than it is high so you've even further to go, and it still manages to be three times the height of Everest.
It's hard, in other words.
By
Liam, At
9:45 PM
Hello!
Excellent news. The game has evolved in the right direction. The basic formula and concept works perfectly!
The game is already very good. But the first thing that sprung in my mind was.. this is a diamond in the rough!! The concept is brilliant yet it just needs a bit more luster on what it already has to offer.
A complete overhaul from scratch is ambitious yet it's exactly what the game needs to evolve. Cleaner code, revamped sleak graphics, a bit of ambient music and you'll have a winner on your hands.
Sure these are just pure eye/hear candy, and the game's real strenght lies on the complexity it has to offer.
The actual gameplay of course is where the game will really grow, the game experience itself: more options, better simulation, etc. Maintaining the simplicity of the original concept, making it more efficient, and a whole product altogether.
Merging the Offpitch/Match simulation is essential to tighten up the product and de NSS experience. Going back and forward as you said, is almost breaking the game in two, when it should work as one.
Well you know all these things better than anyone else of course.. ;)
Have you considered setting up a team to work together (2 or more heads are better than one! ;).. ?
Anyway just a simple (not so short ;) post too boost you with strenght, confidence and inspiration. Waiting for further news and updates..
Compliments, h4rv3st
By
manel, At
4:52 PM
Hello!
Excellent news. The game has evolved in the right direction. The basic formula and concept works perfectly!
The game is already very good. But the first thing that sprung in my mind was.. this is a diamond in the rough!! The concept is brilliant yet it just needs a bit more luster on what it already has to offer.
A complete overhaul from scratch is ambitious yet it's exactly what the game needs to evolve. Cleaner code, revamped sleak graphics, a bit of ambient music and you'll have a winner on your hands.
Sure these are just pure eye/hear candy, and the game's real strenght lies on the complexity it has to offer.
The actual gameplay of course is where the game will really grow, the game experience itself: more options, better simulation, etc. Maintaining the simplicity of the original concept, making it more efficient, and a whole product altogether.
Merging the Offpitch/Match simulation is essential to tighten up the product and the NSS experience. Going back and forward as you said, is almost breaking the game in two, when it should work as one.
Well you know all these things better than anyone else of course.. ;)
Have you considered setting up a team to develop together (2 or more heads work better than one! ;).. ?
Anyway just a simple (not so short ;) post too boost you with strenght, confidence and inspiration. Waiting for further news and updates..
Compliments, h4rv3st
By
manel, At
4:54 PM
Thanks for the news. Any chance of an RSS feed on the Blog at all?
By
hellboy, At
1:16 AM
Sweet man ! Hope all is weii dude :) Its E from merlin :) Keep in touch !
By
BlueSkyGlider, At
9:26 PM
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