We ended up in a pretty good place, engine-wise. The last 4 games didn’t show any outrageous issues, so I think the engine is pretty stable now. There are some thing I thought I wanted to improve, but it’s hard to tell if it’s an engine issue or a player ratings issue. I decided to hold off until I get some different players tested.
So now we’re back into hardcore development again. Here’s the plan:
- Get to the final league size and configuration (20 teams, 2 division, 260-300ish players)
- Completely finish the functionality of player generation and the allocation draft. Everything should work as it will in the final game. The style and graphics will change, but it needs to be 100% functionally correct.
- Complete all of the league structure stuff. Standings, schedule, playoffs, league leaders, etc.. should all work and be in final functional form
- Finish off the coach personality, playbook style, and roster style systems. Should all be in final form
- Implement contracts and free agency
- Create and implement the college draft
- Implement player potential/progression system
- Create all the plays and style-specific playbooks
- Everything should run on a compiled and deployed version of the game, on another computer. It really needs to be stand-alone after this development cycle.
- I need to be able to take videos of game play. This is really a must if I’m going to hit my goal of releasing in the spring. I need to start building momentum towards the release date, and game play videos will really help. If the next hardcore cycle isn’t going to happen until February, I can’t afford to wait.
Basically, everything should work as intended by the time we get to the next season. Regular Season 1 should be about play balance, interface graphics, and prepping to send alpha versions out for play testing (or multiplayer).
As I look at the list, it seems like a lot. I’m going to shoot for completing it by Jan 5th. That would give me the weekend of the 6th/7th to hold the Regular Season 1 draft.
I’m starting with the allocation draft, and I’m not moving off of it until it’s complete. I think I’m far enough along now that I don’t need to leave features partially completed in order to get something else working. Now it’s time to finish things off.