Sociable Soccer - New game by Jon Hare

I know the traditionalists will absolutely hate this, but the more I watch it, the more fun it looks to play!

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Nice to see you ve already shared the video. The game will be playable in optional angles. You can t force the bird perspective on anyone. What s sensible is the controls and the easy way of controlling the game.

I must say the camera issue is one I strongly disagree with! But hey, maybe that s why I m not the one making the game! Carry on!

Extra camera options are fine. Both the side on one and the centre lin ones seemed to work well. What I didn t like was the jerkiness of the top down one in a previous video, it moved too much with the actual ball, rather than a bit smoother, like proper sensi. But I assume/hope that will be ironed out.

I ve never actually gotten any feedback on this, so might as well bring it up again:

The multiple control systems thing has me worried to be honest.

I wonder, how are you going to balance out the fact that some people will be playing with classic controls (and will thus be limited to 8 directions and, supposedly, a sort of context-sensitive action-button) as opposed to the 360° multi-button approach of modern games, like, is it going to feel like Manual/Auto controls on FIFA?

How isn t this going to end up favoring a certain control scheme over the other during multiplayer matches?

I understand the reasoning behind implementing a sort of catch-all system to get everyone on board, it seems like one helluva headache to balance.

Same goes for the camera, to some extent.

This is gonna hurt the competitive side of the game (which is exactly what propelled titles such as Rocket League into worldwide acclaim) if it ends up being mishandled... and between cameras and controls there s a ton of variables and combinations to look out for; it s gonna be tough to balance.

Also, how about some more footage with bird-view?

Side view looks alright all things considered, reminds me a bit too much of a hybrid between Prime Goal EX (pace-wise, camera, etc.) and Pleasure Goal (size of the pitch, constant, pinball-like bouncing), but I do see some potential in it.

Caniggia, you should get the development team to play J.League Excite Stage 96 (Super Famicom), Dynamite Soccer 2004 Final (PS1) and Football Kingdom (PS2) to get ideas, cause those are the best arcade ish soccer games to ever hit the shelves (aside from SWOS) and they all happen to implement a side view.

Excite Stage and Dynamite can be easily emulated on a toaster and if you need a JP PS2 with a copy of Football Kingdom just let me know, I ll send you mine (if you cover the shipment costs, that is ;D )!

In Rocket League you could set up *everything* about camera and controls, though.
By the way it s a very deep game, is Sociable Soccer aiming for a so deep and competitive experience?

In Rocket League you could set up *everything* about camera and controls, though.
By the way it s a very deep game, is Sociable Soccer aiming for a so deep and competitive experience?

Sure, but Rocket League revolves around a brand-new concept and it is very much its own thing top to bottom (for instance it s a truly three-dimensional experience, you don t just go back and forth, you can also jump and kinda fly around and stuff), whereas Sociable Soccer is, for all intents and purposes, trying to expand on 2D 90 s soccer games classic gameplay, implanting it in a 3D environment for ease of development.

Comparing the two is a bit of a stretch, although SS could definitely benefit from suiting itself for competitive gaming, much like Rocket League did. Catch my drift?

Catch my drift?

Yep.

I don t think 8-way vs analog controls will produce an imbalance (if indeed both are available). In one way, analog has an advantage (can shoot, move or pass at any angle) but in another way, 8-way also has an advantage if the gameplay is like SWOS (e.g. shots from certain positions might always be reliably on target/top corner).

Camera wise, online, one player s camera won t affect the other s in any way, I wouldn t have thought.

I don t think 8-way vs analog controls will produce an imbalance (if indeed both are available). In one way, analog has an advantage (can shoot, move or pass at any angle) but in another way, 8-way also has an advantage if the gameplay is like SWOS.

Which may very well not be the case, being Sociable Soccer an entirely new game and whatnot, but let s assume for a moment that you re, indeed, correct, for the sake of argument;

the thing is, in SWOS, if I know what direction you re coming from and how many dribblings you ve done thus far, I can predict fairly accurately where you re gonna end up next, because you can only move so much before losing control over the ball and there s only 8 potential directions (and people don t go backwards very often either)... now, try that with actual 360 degree movement and then try stopping someone who can move 360° with no such degree of freedom and just 8 directions available...

And that s just off the top of my head, the same applies to several aspects of the gameplay, not just defending.

Those using the classic control scheme would be at a disadvantage from the get go unless there was some CPU-assisted defending/auto-repositioning system in place to fill the gaps (and I d personally wouldn t advocate going this route because it d just turn the game into FIFA lite, SWOS is all about playing skill and freedom of control with minimal contributions by the CPU after all).

Camera wise, online, one player s camera won t affect the other s in any way, I wouldn t have thought.

Alright, if you pass me the analogy, let s say we re playing a Counter Strike or Call of Duty team deathmatch, you (along with everyone else in your team) are stuck with the typical first-person shooter view, whereas I get to use a 3rd person, bird view taken out so far, it allows me to see most of the map.

I m now aware of the positioning of the whole opposing team at any moment, are you sure it s not giving me a game-breaking tactical advantage, even though my camera angle, technically, isn t affecting the other players view in any way, shape or form?

Back to us and Sociable Soccer, if one of the views will be showing a larger portion of the pitch (which seems to be the case, judging by the video, just compare these two shots: A. B. ), it will become standard for competitive online matches and if it happens to be one of the side views (that look a lot of fun, don t get me wrong), it s gonna leave a bad taste in a lot of SWOS fans mouths.