Slow progress
Had one of those days today where everything just seemed so complicated. Started badly by being woken up by the neighbour slamming his door shut (as do most days actually) so I went for a frosty bike ride before getting down to work.
Managed to get the match results in Sensational Soccer sorted, no problem, and started working on the save game feature. Man, was this a chore. I thought is was going to be dead simple but it slowly dawned on me that it was the exact opposite, mainly due to using NSS league data rather than setting up a whole new data set specifically for Sensational. It seems to be working now, although i foresee more problems tomorrow when i try to program the promotions and relegations. The hard work should be worth it in the long run though as it will mean NSS and Sensational can share the same database and match engine - so updating the engine will actually improve both games at the same time!
Well that's about all there is to tell for today.
Sensational coming along nicely
Got loads of work done today. Fixed a few bugs in NSS3 version 3.12 although there are a few outstanding. Should have a final version sorted by tomorrow.
Most satisfying though is that Sensational Soccer is very near to having a fully playable league mode. Fixtures creation is working, and the league table updates nicely as you may be able to see on the left.
Need to make the game create realistic results for the other matches played and add a save game function. Then there's promotions/relegations/plays-offs to sort out, but it won't be long before I start beta testing on the forum. Better go to bed now - early start tomorrow.
A litte background info
Right, I don't want to waffle on about myself but I guess it would paint a nicer picture if I just gave you a few details about myself...
I'm 29 years old and will be 30 in July. I live with my girlfriend, Lucy, who is a nurse and we are about to buy our first house together. Well, I say house, I actually mean 2 bedroomed flat. Anyway, I recently quit my job on an IT Helpdesk and began working for myself full time as an independent games developer. New Star Soccer 3 is the most recent title and is doing remarkably well right now after numerous awards from mags/websites. (Strangely it is selling very well in Turkey when I didn't even hear about a Turkish magazine review. Or if I did, I forgot.)
Coming soon is Sensational Soccer. Basically, the match engine you see in NSS3 will be used in a more traditional soccer game. You will select the team, choose the tactics and control all the players on the pitch. The bulk of this is already complete as I have programmed the team and individual modes of play simultaneously. I just released an update for NSS3 so I can now get back to concentrating on Sensational Soccer. First plan of action is to create a league mode so you can pick a team then battle it out for promotion. The full range of leagues from NSS3 will be available, as compiled by Nick Greig. Contact Nick on the forum if you want to help collect data. Whilst i'm talking about the Forum, a big shout out to Jay-Jay and the mods for keeping everything running smoothly. :)
One or two player single matches already in place in SS and working well, I think. The tactics editor is also ready to go and I can't wait to see what title winning tactics people start coming up with. I'll be hosting the best ones on the website naturally. A new Goal Of The Month competition will be set up for Sensational Soccer, much like the NSS3 Goal Of The Month, so if you play both games you'll have two chances of winning a prize from the NSS Shop! An online mode for Sensational Soccer has been suggested and although it is something I would love to implement the first release will be offline only i'm afraid. One last thing... I want to include as many Languages in Sensational Soccer as possible, so if you want to help please check this thread on the forum.
Right, that's enough chat for now. I need to get started on that league mode. :)
Welcome to the New Star Blog!
Testing, testing... Is this thing on?
Ok. My name is Simon Read, creator of New Star Soccer and the forthcoming Sensational Soccer. I thought you might like to pick up some 'behind the scenes' info and find out how my current projects are evolving. I'll try not to wander off topic and will do my best to keep you bang up to date with developments.
