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...
