Sensational World Soccer - Official Demo

[siread]

Here is the official demo version of Sensational World Soccer.

[DOWNLOAD PC v1.02]

[DOWNLOAD MAC (Intel) v1.02]

[BUY NOW $6.99]

v1.02
Keeper animations in saved replays fixed. This will mean existing saved replays will be broken, sorry.
Fixed Pause and Replay button control display
Fixed vuvuzelas volume
Added low detail option for netbooks
Players huddle in extra time
Updated translations
Fixed offside flag
Fixed offside decision when heading/sliding ball
Players do a celebration lap
Fixed quit match cheating
Added simultaneous match score updates
Improved quick shots

v1.01
Updated stadium and fans
Improved receiving pass AI
Added fixkick direction option to Engine.ini
Improved headers
Fixed header animation
Improved player switching
Fixed penalty shootout bugs
Replay follows goal scorer

[haGi]

hey si,
i have made a german translation. should i send you a pm with the file or an email?

[siread]

PM me your email address and I'll send you the latest language file. It has changed slightly.

[haGi]

just sent you a PM.

about the demo:
- the AI seems to be smarter as in the beta
- i still think that a Sensational Soccer-style 4 button mode would be easier to handle
- the aim cursor should be moveable when pressing the shoot button while running (like NSS2010)
- the aim cursor should be stuck when pressing the shoot button at set-pieces (so you can first set the direction, press the button and concentrate on the flair you want to give the ball without changing the direction just before the ball leaves the foot)
- the UI buttons in the beta were better. they went better with the whole UI style i think
- the one button control is really weird sometimes: i run towards the ball, the player automaticly passes to nowhere, i get to the ball again, the player passes over the sideline

edit:
- there's still the penalty-shootout error when scoring from a rebound
- the pass-receiver autoguidance sometimes is a pain in the ass, they allways run towards the ball, even when it's better to run into the path of the ball
- the auto-switch should instantly switch to the player who has the best position currently it's like this:
cross.png
i hit a cross, the player in the box gets selected while the player with the best position automatically runs towards the goal (and away from his good position).
the ball reaches the player who had the best position, but by the time he is selected he ran too far towards the goal and can't reach the ball

personally, i get the best game experience when i set the speed to slow, acceleration=0.58 and joggingspeed=0.89.
i'd also like if the shots on goal were faster and the lobs went further (corner to the long post).

edit2:
i think the problem with the shots on goal feeling so slow is that it only uses the shot parameters inside the box. if you are outside all shots use lob parameters. nevertheless kickpow_shoot should be increased to 0.11-0.12
i'd like to see at least a 2-button control system with one button for pass/slidetackle/lob/passing-header and one button for shoot/attacking-header/blocktackle and one-timers only getting performed when holding the button before you get the ball

edit3:
a little bit more curl wouldn't be bad

[Muzzer71]

Only gave it a quick try but I had to give up... whenever I passed the ball to a teammate he immediately passed the ball on. I had to try to play one touch football all the time but more often than not I was giving the ball away cheaply or kicking it into touch. I will persevere and give it another go later but there's my observation for now.

[siread]

Thanks Hagi, I will think about your points.

Only gave it a quick try but I had to give up... whenever I passed the ball to a teammate he immediately passed the ball on. I had to try to play one touch football all the time but more often than not I was giving the ball away cheaply or kicking it into touch. I will persevere and give it another go later but there's my observation for now.

The pass receiver will make a first time pass if you tap the button before it gets to him. If he is passing without you pressing something then there must be something wrong.

[Boon McGee]

Hey,

Been playing the game for a while now, it's good fun, though takes a bit of getting used to.

Couple of things I noticed, 'translated by' is misspelled on the 'Thanks to' scrolling the bottom of the menu page (As 'tranlated'). Thought I best mention it incase you hadn't noticed.
Also, I got into a penalty shoot-out as SA, it was 2 - 1 and I missed a penalty firing straight down the middle - the keeper saved it and the ball rebounded straight to my player and I took another shot which went in.
The goal stood, and I guess the game read it as an open play goal because the teams sort of half reset and I got to take kick off, though both keepers stayed in the goal where the penalties had been taken.
Sure it's a simple fix, but you may not have occured during testing .

Good luck with it, I'll certainly be purchasing the full version.

Sam


EDIT:
Apologies. I realise that haGi has made the same point about penality rebounds as me, and in fewer words. Thought I was helping haha.

[siread]

Version 1.01 uploaded for PC. I will update the languages next time. Here are the main changes...

Updated stadium and fans
Improved receiving pass AI
Added fixkick direction option to Engine.ini
Improved headers
Fixed header animation
Improved player switching
Fixed penalty shootout bugs
Replay follows goal scorer

[conscience]

a nice game with a great atmosphere!
The sound is amazing and really get's you in the right mood for this little game.

It's a little to early for me to judge the gameplay itself but it's really fun for the first few games.

what I would add are some rough team skills.
GK-DEF-MID-ST from 1-5
like Italy would get 5-5-4-4 or something or Brazil 4-4-5-5 or something like that.
It sort of reminds me of an old sega mega drive game. World Cup Italia '90.

I'm not sure if it would be too much for this arcade style game but it would add a little more depth without destroying the atmosphere.

what do you guys think?

[haGi]

the new demoversion is a huge step forward
with the fixkick parameter set to 0 it's absolutely nice to play

[Cookie Monster]

Oh, no teams yet? I know what to edit to have my wish fulfilled but still...

[kododude]

It is heartwarming that after I bought the game I can still get the updates as well, and thankfully I don’t have to pay more from version upgrades. This game is addictive. I find it even better than the Fifa 2010. Requires lower graphics, and which means many of us can play without the need to upgrade the computer. I am absolutely addicted to this game. I have been playing this game none stop since the moment I bought it.

[uksoccerfan]

Si

Really impressive game you have here. Definitely got the 'pick up and play' + fun factor. Great that the players have 360 Deg control. Sound is very atmospheric. Closest thing to a quality modern day Sensi Soccer that I've played.

Couple of thoughts:

Sprite animation lets things down a little:
- The '2 stage' leg animation looks a bit out of place (compared to nice smooth pitch movement, etc).
- The 'no diagonal' player sprites could be improved.

Keep up the great work.

[siread]

Thanks for your comments guys. The name thing is because I intended to call this game Sensational World Cup but had to drop "World Cup" due to licensing issues, so it is now Sensational World Soccer. In retrospect I maybe should have gone with Sensational Soccer: World Championship or something like that but I don't like long titles. Anyway, there are only 2 Sensational games in total.

Graphics and animations will be updated when I start work on NSS5 which will use this football engine.

I hope to include basic team data over the next week or two (that will mean team selection, substitutions, bans etc are included) but I will release it initially without this feature.

Um, more news later today.

[haGi]

good to hear you are planning to go back to 2D, i loved the 2D sensational game engine in NSS3
it makes the game incompareable to the 3D soccer games of the big companies. many people - like me - love to travel back to their childhood (sensible soccer), the 2D engine remembers me of the good old times

i hope that you'll be able to choose between 1 button-control and 2 or 4-button control in NSS5.

edit:
just one thing i almost forgot to say! amazing what you did in such a short time simon, really amazing!

edit2:
i just tried to delete the contour from the player sprites, i think it makes the game look more retro while keeping the modern look of the sprites
players.jpg