Sunday Rivals Winter Update Adds In-Game and Season Stats, Console Development on Hold

[26k]

A new Sunday Rivals Winter update has arrived today rebranding the pre-snap stat box as the...

Written By: Steve Noah

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[allBthere]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Hey yall, wanted to put together a thread to start sharing all of the updates that have gone into Sunday Rivals since release in August. The game is currently available on Steam Early Access: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1...Sunday_Rivals/

Today I put up the 5th update to the game, v.12.0, focused entirely on improving visuals and presentation. I've added a full crowd, new lighting and atmosphere, and started renovating the overall look of the stadium with endzone text, working scoreboards, and improved bench and sidelines.







I've also started building out a fun player celebration system, leaning in a bit to some of my retro inspirations for making this game:



In the previous update, I added a new game mode unique to Sunday Rivals called HeadHunter, which allows the player to compete in a 4 game tournament that utilizes a fantasy football type scoring system and tracks stats and records across the games. So far, players have been really digging this new mode, putting up some incredible scores!

Going forward, I'm planning to focus back again improving gameplay and increasing the overall AI competition level through a mixture of difficulty settings and customizable gameplay sliders. More to come on that front!

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions about the game!

I hit you up on twitter - looking for apple or ps/xbox support in the future so I can play! It really looks awesome, so good on you - are you doing this alone? it's very impressive.

[Jackrabbit JB]

SR has the best gameplay of the indie football titles out there and it gets significantly better with each monthly update. Full customization and season mode are still coming!

[26k]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

I hit you up on twitter - looking for apple or ps/xbox support in the future so I can play! It really looks awesome, so good on you - are you doing this alone? it's very impressive.

Thanks, yup working on this by my lonesome!

I'm focused on the Steam release right now, when Early Access is complete I'll start evaluating other platforms since there's definitely a demand for it so far. I have no idea when that will be, so if you're interested now Steam is the best (and cheapest) place to grab a hold of it!

[GlennN]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Excited about this one, but it needs a career/franchise mode (even if basic, something for multiple seasons) before I can get too excited.

[Elway7]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Excited about this one, but it needs a career/franchise mode (even if basic, something for multiple seasons) before I can get too excited.

Tecmo super bowl only had a season and it is still widely played today.

[allBthere]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Thanks, yup working on this by my lonesome!

I'm focused on the Steam release right now, when Early Access is complete I'll start evaluating other platforms since there's definitely a demand for it so far. I have no idea when that will be, so if you're interested now Steam is the best (and cheapest) place to grab a hold of it!

cool, I look forward to it - I only have a mac's in this house so I'll have to wait. Are you a game developer or started this as a side project?
I'm making a game in dreams on ps4 but some aspect are so much harder than others I'm finding - what platform do you use to create in - is it unreal?

[26k]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Tecmo super bowl only had a season and it is still widely played today.

This is true!

FWIW, there will definitely be a season mode with customizable teams, rosters, records, etc. I totally understand the desire for franchise, but to do it right it's basically like building another game on top of an existing football game. Right now I'm just focused on making that first football game as good as it can be

[26k]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

cool, I look forward to it - I only have a mac's in this house so I'll have to wait. Are you a game developer or started this as a side project?
I'm making a game in dreams on ps4 but some aspect are so much harder than others I'm finding - what platform do you use to create in - is it unreal?

Both actually. Full time gamedev and then for fun, um, more game dev...

Rivals is made in Unity! And ya, there's definitely a learning curve to any engine/tool before you get to the point where you're able to make the thing you're thinking about without feeling like you're mainly fighting the tools. I always recommend that people start super simple, don't try and make your dream game the first time round and be accepting of failure, early and often. You'd be surprised how much more you'll learn making a knockoff Pong that people can actually play and give you feedback on. That's really not too far off from my approach to releasing this game as early as I did!

[Kayotick]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Appreciate the updates. One thing that really needs to get fixed is user extra point kicks. They never go in even if you hit max power.

[26k]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

Appreciate the updates. One thing that really needs to get fixed is user extra point kicks. They never go in even if you hit max power.

The mechanic is setup so maxing out the bar (bar turns red) is actually 'over-powering' the kick, which cuts the power significantly. You want to hit just under the 'max' line to get actual maximum power (bar stays white). Is that what you're experiencing?

Sorry if that's confusing, I'm sure there's more work to be done on communicating that system better!

[Kayotick]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

The mechanic is setup so maxing out the bar (bar turns red) is actually 'over-powering' the kick, which cuts the power significantly. You want to hit just under the 'max' line to get actual maximum power (bar stays white). Is that what you're experiencing?



Sorry if that's confusing, I'm sure there's more work to be done on communicating that system better!

Will check it out once I fire up the game again and let you know

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

[Elway7]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.0)

This is true!

FWIW, there will definitely be a season mode with customizable teams, rosters, records, etc. I totally understand the desire for franchise, but to do it right it's basically like building another game on top of an existing football game. Right now I'm just focused on making that first football game as good as it can be

Even as simple as schedule making ability would suffice for a franchise experience, IMO, until the appropriate time to implement such a feature.
Too many people nowadays focus on tattoos, shoe colors, etc etc etc. It's about having great/fun/smooth gameplay and fundamentally sound X's and O's.
You're stadium atmosphere is already ahead of anything Madden has done, ever. Basic and clean.
Looking forward for more updates.

[26k]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.2)



Update v.12.2 is available today, here's a full rundown of what's included:
https://store.steampowered.com/newsh...88481797984162

The big ticket items are 3 experimental player skill settings to try out, a revamped defensive playbook, defensive play previews, improved character collisions (no more phantom missed tackles), and a bunch of gameplay improvements to try and make the AI more competitive.

The next update will feature fully customizable gameplay sliders, along with better balanced versions of the new skill settings. Really excited to see how folks respond to the experimental ones, 'expert' can be incredibly challenging!

[GlennN]

Re: Sunday Rivals Updates (v.12.2)

The next update will feature fully customizable gameplay sliders, along with better balanced versions of the new skill settings. Really excited to see how folks respond to the experimental ones, 'expert' can be incredibly challenging!

The thing I worry about is the tension between making the skill of the gamer matter, and the game having the players play true to their ratings. In sports games, I always want the ratings of the player to be the primary driver of what happens on the field. Some games, of course, do this better than others. That's why (for me) Front Page Sports Football Pro and NFL 2K5 were the best gaming experiences for me - they didn't go the Madden route of aiming to attract and feature the skill of the gamer over the ratings of the players (like having the gamer use a "catch" button, rather than going off the "catch" ratings of the player, for one example). Can you speak to your thoughts on this topic, and how Sunday Rivals handles this? Thanks!