So I was at the Texas Independent Games Conference in Austin over the weekend, where I keynoted--PowerPoint here. (Long time readers will note that much of it is an amalgamation of previous talks on the nature of genre in games, and exhorting developers to greater creativity.)

Warren Spector remarked that the event "felt like the first (C)GDC", which was both true and untrue; with ~200 people (and somewhat haphazard organization), it did have a far more casual feeling than GDC (or even the Austin Game Conference), which have become huge and pretty high-pressure, and the ability to chat with just about everyone was certainly a positive. However, while there were indeed some very interesting folks there, from a remarkably wide range of backgrounds (true indies, large independent game developers working through the conventional system, academics, hobbyist developers, journos, serious games people), the level of intellectual excitement was surely not the same as at the early CGDCs, and the talks were quite uneven (some superb, some astonishly dull). For my part, I thought it felt a bit like the game industry equivalent of a relaxacon.

Incidentally, I think we're within a few weeks of launch at this point. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, I may ask readers to look at the development site and bang on it a bit--a sort of short-term open beta, if you will.
posted by Greg at 2:52 PM 6 comments

As we move into the final stretch, I've been neglecting the blog, partly because my writing time at present is spent working on the site. But I thought I might post here an occasional that will appear on the site ultimately... so:

Manage Your Way to the World S... Cup?

You can imagine the conversation:
Manifesto: Oh, you have a soccer management game... we like sports management games.
Strategy First: You actually want that?
Manifesto: Sure!
Strategy First: But your main market is in the US. Nobody is interested in the soccer in the US.
Manifesto: Go Arsenal!
Strategy First: What?
Manifesto: Oh hey! It's designed by Santiago Siri! Cool!

Santiago Siri's blog is Games Are Art!, a sentiment with which we sympathize, you understand. And he's currently working on an as-yet unannounced game we think will be exceptionally cool. He's at least a fellow traveller, and potentially a full bore revolutionary.

At its heart, Football Deluxe is a conventional sports management game, along the lines of, say, Baseball Manager. In other words, no 3D hi-res recreation of the action on the field; you are managing the team, and recruiting new players, and worrying about your standing in the league and your finances.

But with Football Deluxe, there are a number of twists that make this game stand out among others of its genre.

For one thing, it's much more a game of people management, and much less an elaborated spreadsheet, than most such games. All of the players (and team owners) have personalities, and your dialog choices in interacting with them affect how they view you, as manager--and ultimately, their performance on the field. (This is a conscious design choice on Siri's part--and people management is clearly an important idea for him, since it's also at the heart of his current project, a political game.)

For another--Football Deluxe is actually a much more tense game than most sports management titles. Not by design, but by the nature of Association Football. In American football or baseball, the major leagues are the major leagues, and no matter how dismally your team performs, you'll still be a major league team at the end of the year. In soccer--screw up, and your team is relegated to a lower league. Conversely, have a stellar year, and you can be promoted to the Premier League (or national equivalent), with the attention, TV revenue, and hot babes (not provided with this game) that this entails.

In other words, as a game qua game, ignoring for the moment whether you're interested in the sport, this has interesting and enlightening differences from (and perhaps advantages over) other sports management games.

Weak Spots

That being said, we do want to warn you about of couple of things.

For one thing, if you want to manage a team from Europe or South America, great. North America... Australia... even Asia... No. And yes, Europe and South America are the powerhouses of futbol, but if for some godforsaken reason you're Missouri's biggest soccer fan and want to lead the St Louis Lions into the USL First Division, well.... sorry.

Second, if you're expecting actual stats from real-world players---um, no. Nobody bought the FIFA license. Or actually, somebody did buy the FIFA license, and their initials are "EA," so if somebody else wants to do a soccer game, well, you know. Some of us might consider this monopolistic restraint of trade, but then, we're apparently wild-eyed radical loons, so there you are.

And third... the localization job is a little sloppy. "Localization" means translating all the stuff in the game into another language--normally from English into something else, but Evoluxion is Argentinean, so in this case from Español into Inglés. Mostly, the localization is fine, if sometimes not idiomatic, but, ah, who failed to notice that when the game tells you about a player's strengths, it tells that they are, say "Reflexes y Aggression"? "y" is a perfectly good conjunction just not, you know, one that exists in English.

And fourth... well, no, the World Cup is not like the World [read US+Canada] Series, and is competed for by national teams comprising the best players of the country, not by the teams of the top leagues. So no, you won't be winning the World Cup. But there are plenty of national and international trophies to vie for.

But you know, on the whole... This is a kind of interesting game, if you have an interest in sports management as a genre. Worth a look at the demo, in any event.

The Developer Says

A football manager game where you have to deal with the press, fans and players themselves to achieve success in the most important leagues and cups of the world.

Football Deluxe is a combination sport and strategy game. In this realistic football world, you assume the role of a football manager and professional coach. You are responsible for deciding on game tactics and solid team formation. As manager, your duties include talking to players about their problems, communicating with trainers, consulting with assistants, addressing the press, and dealing with fans, all of whom communicate back to you in full motion video. Create your dream team by designing winning game strategies, negotiating contracts, and recruiting players. As you play in the most prestigious Football leagues, you live as team manager and experience the sweet taste of success and the devastating heartbreak of loss.

Features

- Friendly and attractive user interface
- Stimulating matches in real time
- 3D characters who communicate in full motion video
- Face-to-face interaction with press, fans, players, trainers and more
- Complete set of football-related decisions
- Ability to care for players on personal and professional level
- AI with realistic results and fast match calculations
posted by Greg at 2:03 PM 5 comments