New Star Rising

I’ve been cramming in the hours these past few weeks and NSS4 is finally starting to feel like the finished article. I still have some work to do on the competitions, fixing clashes and so on, and you can’t actually get picked for an international match yet, but soon these issues will just be a distant memory (I hope). I must admit it’s getting a bit stressful trying to do as much as possible before Lucy and I leave Melbourne and continue our travels. We fly to Tasmania for 10 days at the end of May then back to Melbourne before heading for the West Coast. How I’ll be able to work during this time is a concern as I wanted the game to be ready for the European Championship. We’ll see…

Feedback from the beta versions I released has been very positive and I can only say that the gameplay will only get better before the final release. I have already made some improvements on the AI and the ball control feels smoother than it did before. I’m hoping to fix any serious compatibility issues with the next beta which will be the last one before the final game is released.

Most of my time at the moment is being spent on the career side of the game and making sure that it all flows nicely. Things like contract offers, the transfer market and the progression of player skills are all hugely important things that need to be finely balanced in order to appear realistic. I think I’ve mentioned it before but I have dropped the training challenges and have made skill progression something that takes place during match play. In addition to your club fixtures you will be able to take part in two types of training matches; full 11-a-side games in an empty stadium or 5-a-side indoor games. These can be selected from the training screen. Notice the custom orange and black interface. Very Half-Life 2...

The indoor games are great fun allowing you to bounce passes off the walls and it helps to increase abilities without expending too much energy running around a full sized pitch.

The outdoor training matches do allow you to set up freekicks, corners and penalties whenever you like though to enable you to improve your setpiece skill. It’s very satisfying seeing your skills chink up at the bottom of the screen when you pull off a nice pass, shot or tackle.

One other aspect I’ve added recently is Achievements. These work in the same way as the Xbox 360 achievements do, recording your progress as you complete tasks like “Score a hattrick”, “Get a sponsorship deal” and so on. The achievement count is currently at 45 but I hope to take this up to 100 by release day. There will of course be some fiendishly difficult achievements such as “World Cup Top Scorer”.

The financial side of the game is shaping up nicely too. Here you can see the finance screen where you can buy vehicles and property and set how much you want to spend on your friends and family each week to keep them sweet. Notice the sponsors panel. Now you can have up to 11 different sponsors ranging from sports wear to cosmetics. Attaining a boot sponsor unlocks the option to edit your boot colours.


Finally, I can't remember if I've shown you any images of the new horse racing section. Here's a brief shot of a race in action...


So for now it's business as usual for me but that finish line is getting ever nearer. :D