Dev Blog 8: Playing (most of) the Season

Posted On Feb 24, 2018

I was so excited about progress on the game that I worked over the weekend to get the game schedule tied in with the Season Events List so that actual season matches could be played. And it is working!

Actually playing season matches made me immediately want to get the fan system working, so I created a system where you get a new fan for every 10 SportsPoints at the end of a match, up to 10 new fans. Your SportsPoints roll over between matches, so you can build a back log of potential fans if you do really well. There’s more tweaking to do, but I also added more ways to score SportsPoints, including shooting from downtown, getting a rebound, as well as penalties for dropping the ball.

Accumulating fans is pretty rewarding. Since the special backer fans get filled into the crowd first, you will see familiar faces early in your season. By the end of the season, if you’ve been doing well, there will be a full crowd.

I also added new player unlocks when you beat a team, and new team color unlocks when you beat them a 2nd time! Picking your favorite team color goes a long way towards making your team feel like they are yours. Picking the city, name and designing your home arena will hopefully go the rest of the way!

With fans and a full season schedule, I couldn’t help but start working on the semifinals and finals. This is a bit more complicated since it is determined by wins and losses of all the teams. The first thing to do was to simulate the computer team-vs-computer team matches.  As much as I would love to actually run the matches, they would have to play out in real time, so instead I use the available players on that team to come up with reasonable scores (for example, an all Hockey player team can’t score field goals, and is less likely to dunk). Then I track the wins and losses of both your team and the computer teams. The computer teams that win matches are weighted more heavily in future matches, so clear winners will start to emerge over time.

Now with the teams ranked, it is possible to determine who plays who in the semifinals. This can lead to several possibilities:

1. You don’t make the semifinals: This means 4 sets of computer teams will simulate games, and two will win. Those two teams will have a simulated match and one will win. Game over human! Better luck in season 2! [ENDING]
2. You make the semifinals, but lose. One real match occurs, then a simulated match for the other two teams in the top four, then a simulated final and one will win. Game over human! Better luck in season 2! [ENDING]
3. You make and win the semifinals, but lose the finals. One real match, one simulated match, then a real finals match where you lose. Game over human! Better luck in season 2! [ENDING]
4. You win the season! One real match, one simulated match, then a real finals match where you win! Yay! [ENDING]

After this, you can play season 2. What will season 2 hold?

So I got about as far as setting up the dummy placeholders for semifinals/finals. The logic is in place to determine the top 4, but to go any further will require some kind of ending screen where all this plays out and you loop into season 2. Also, this all needs to be tested on Xbox One, but I’m happy to say a milestone is hit, and we have a new version number!