You know, it always amazes me where you get hit with bolts of inspiration.
So I'm out on the running trail yesterday, wrestling with various programming problems I have right now. Gameplay and playcalling pops up again, because this is one area I've had the most trouble with. It love the game engine and how the players run around, but I hate the playcalling part.
Frankly, it's boring.
In it's current state, playcalling doesn't make you feel like part of the game. I've almost scrapped it a few times and gone all auto-playcall mode because it feels like a chore instead of a meaningful part of the game. I don't fast-sim my games because watching the players is so much fun!! If only I could connect you (the player) to the little guys running around the field....
Then, about mile 5 (when I got a good runner's high
) it hit me! I'm thinking about this all wrong. I'm still thinking about playcalling as if this were Madden. It's not, so I have the freedom to do something different. This is a lot more "backyard football" than NFL/Madden, so playcalling should be a lot more backyard too.
Wait, why even call plays? Why not call routes instead of plays? That's how we all did it back when we played in the street! That worked just fine, and it would work really well in DD:F!!
Here's the idea:
- Your playbook is really a book for formations. You pick a "play" that is really just a formation, based on the roster style your team runs, and the players line up accordingly.
- After the players lined up, they would be assigned a random* route. (*not truly random, but based on some AI + randomness)
- Then you'd have the opportunity to hot-route everyone to something new.
- Snap ball and off we go!
The key to all of this is the hot-route step. I really believe that individually assigning routes to your favorite players, based on the game situation and matchups, will pull you into the game a lot more than just calling predetermined plays. As I play, I'm always wishing I could change the play I called, just a little bit. I want to feature Faulkner a lot more, and get in in the best positions, but I'm too limited by what's in my playbook. Having the ability to change the play on the fly would open up unlimited options for using my team talent!
So that's the new direction. Luckily, this should work nicely with most of the systems I've already developed. It's good that I held off on finalizing the playcall system for so long. Now I don't feel like I've wasted a lot of time by changing it!
As always, I'm open to any ideas or thoughts.