Speccy Soccer

[Andre Leao]

Wonderful new release...





https://planetasinclair.blogspot.com/20 ... occer.html

✓ PROCESSED

DH 07/05/23

[Audionautas]

[Dodgypenguin]

This looks like it could be awesome, but playing it through a spectrum next (N-Go) I get horrible player judder (motion sickness) when running with the ball. Is this how it should be, or a timing issue with running it through a Next (N-Go)?

[Pegaz]

This looks like it could be awesome, but playing it through a spectrum next (N-Go) I get horrible player judder (motion sickness) when running with the ball. Is this how it should be, or a timing issue with running it through a Next (N-Go)?

Well, it's certainly not Sensible Soccer animation level, but it's not bad at all.
Try turning on the Vsync option and see if there is any improvement...

[Audionautas]

This looks like it could be awesome, but playing it through a spectrum next (N-Go) I get horrible player judder (motion sickness) when running with the ball. Is this how it should be, or a timing issue with running it through a Next (N-Go)?

I recall that Voxeltower commented on the video above that for better results playing on the Next you should activate a feature called Vsync on the main menu. This feature is better keeping it deactivated on the 128K because you lose some FPS. Also, if the game is too fast, you can slow the speed down a bit on the main menu.

[Dodgypenguin]

Tried with vsync on. Tried different game speeds, but the player shudder still enough to generate motion sickness. Unplayable for me. Darn.

[R-Tape]

It looked fine for me in SPIN, really impressive. Is the judder a Next problem and not a game one?

[Dodgypenguin]

It might be a “me” problem

[Morkin]

Have been waiting for this for a while.... Was always a fan of Sensi on the Amiga, and this is very similar in gameplay. Great work..!



My first go I played as Rayo Vallecano (whatever happened to the big wasp/bee on their shirts?) vs Notts Forest (and why not), losing 2-1 to a Sam Surridge golden goal...

It's pretty incredible how many features (injuries, cards, player stats, formations, weather etc.) has been crammed in. Will be playing more of this over the forthcoming weeks..

[Lee Bee]

Looks great! Though my favourite thing about Sensible Soccer was the nice olive-green coloured pitch. It's a shame they couldn't have done something more like this:

[JMcGibbitts]

I'm not sure if the in-game music is distracting or if affects frame rate, but I found the game slightly easier by turning the music off. Pressing - I think - CAPS, for a menu to stop the gameplay, then x, I could turn the in-game music off. I don't know if I will remember this. A main menu option for music and sound effects would be more friendly.

There's a good game in here somewhere. I'd welcome some options to increase smoothness and slow down the gameplay.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I just tried it, and I love it!

After some little confusing moments (I played the wrong team!) I managed to control it and it's very nice. The arcade-ish tune is very appropiate and it's got very surprising features (weather conditions, for example).

[voxeltower]

Hi friends, it has been a hard work, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much.

[Pegaz]

Tried with vsync on. Tried different game speeds, but the player shudder still enough to generate motion sickness. Unplayable for me. Darn.

Maybe it's time to put the Next on the shelf and get a real Spectrum.
I tried it with my ZX-Uno and there are no such issues, I didn't even turn Vsync on...

[Dodgypenguin]

My childhood 48k is very much alive, just never had a 128 as a kid. Next has been good as a 128k machine for most games, although occasionally get problems with some modern engines.

[Pegaz]

Hi friends, it has been a hard work, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much.

Thanks for the great game.
Maybe you could consider the suggestion made by @Lee Bee, that the field has different checkered or striped shades, which would add even more to the playing atmosphere.
That wouldn't cause a color clash and I think it's a good idea for an update.

My childhood 48k is very much alive, just never had a 128 as a kid. Next has been good as a 128k machine for most games, although occasionally get problems with some modern engines.

For playing 128k games, you have better alternatives, where you won't have to make to many compromises.
Real +2/+2A still can be found significantly cheaper than Next, also you can always run a quality emulator, connect your PC/Pi etc to the TV and enjoy the game, almost like the real thing...
Also, other more matured fpga solutions like Mister, Mist, Mistica, Sidi, ZX-Uno family, are always good option.

[Dodgypenguin]

Hurrah!

Had more of a play around with Next settings, changing video outputs etc.

Best results, for me, came from VGA. Changed video output to 50 Hz VGA (scan 2), game speed down to 1, vsync ON. This seems to reduce screen judder sufficiently to stop motion sickness feeling!

[Pegaz]

You used Next hdmi output until now !?
You are truly a brave man.

[Dodgypenguin]

Mostly RGB up to now, sometimes HDMI, with VGA primarily to run odd things like the Atari 2600 core (that only outputs in VGA).

[XTM]

While the suggestion made by @Lee Bee does look nice, I think it's impractical as it would complicate the graphical routines a lot. To begin with, the game scrolls vertically in varying pixel steps, but horizontally it does it only in 4 pixel steps. Which also explains the judder some people (including me) have experienced, as the game may not scroll horizontally and vertically on the same frames. Even the players do not always get updated on the same frame as the background, which already increases the judder. Adding the more complex suggested background would require a lot more writes to the screen or buffer, and we haven't even mentioned attributes yet. The game already has tearing, with the increased load that would get even worse as the frame rate would absolutely take a hit.

[JMcGibbitts]

Speccy Soccer is ambitious. Full screen multi-direction scrolling. Up to 12 players on screen. Weather effects on the pitch. Animated advertising, crowd and coaches. In-game music.

The Amstrad version CPC Soccer 2020 judders much less. There is left / right push scrolling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPBzBMs6wRo

CPC Soccer 2022 scrolls incrementally sideways, but judders similarly to Speccy Soccer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bjMEOVZEas

I much prefer the smoother movement and push scrolling of CPC Soccer 2020.

Perhaps the decision to scroll and move sprites like this, introducing judder, was made for the 2022 Amstrad version and carried over to Speccy Soccer.
It would have been interesting to see the 2020 version converted to the ZX Spectrum.

[voxeltower]

The game does scroll vertically and horizontally in the same frame, but it moves in 4x4 blocks (this causes judder).

In vertical it could make it smoother (2 pix min, my engine limit) but in horizontal not since it would imply needing more memory to have rotated sprites.

I put it in 4x4 scroll since if they go at different speeds it gives a very strange feeling, it is not recommended (a lot of players already told me about it in CPC Soccer).

Due to this 4x4 scroll when playing NEXT with a higher FPS the scroll gets worse (maybe I should remove the FPS boost...). This game was not made for NEXT, just add the FPS boost to it.

It's hard to move 22 players (with complex AI) and a ball (with physics) 50 times per second and get a pixel scroll, but I will try.

Thanks for comments. Maybe for Speccy Soccer 2024 I will be able to scroll to the pixel.

[JMcGibbitts]

... it moves in 4x4 blocks (this causes judder). In vertical it could make it smoother (2 pix min, my engine limit) but in horizontal not since it would imply needing more memory to have rotated sprites.

If you can prioritize to get the horizontal 2 pixel sprite rotations in so that players and the pitch can move in 2 pixel increments, that should really help.

It's hard to move 22 players (with complex AI) and a ball (with physics) 50 times per second and get a pixel scroll, but I will try.

Good luck! I think anyone playing using a Spectrum Next might want to set Speed = -1. I have been playing with Spectaculator and I find the game easier to play with Speed = 1. I would even like to try a Speed = 0 setting.

Are you able to say what to POKE to set the Speed by default, to modify in the BASIC loader and avoid having to set the speed every time the game loads? Are you also able to say what to POKE to disable the in-game music by default?

"Real player data" and club badges / names are not such a good idea because they're someone else's property. I noticed that a team I like doesn't have *all* of the correct player names and their player stats are wrong, so I'm not sure the effort here was worth it.

I would have liked to see Bundesliga and Eredivisie teams too, so although 120 teams is a nice statistic for the game to boast, I think it goes too far in the wrong direction. Why not limit the game to just 20 teams, offer 8 characters per player name, but expose the team and player data block in the .tap file so that anyone may easily edit the team names, player names and player attributes? With edits for other leagues, promotions and relegations, the team badges are unnecessary.


I also saw a couple of things that I would consider bugs...

1. Throw-ins at maximum strength travel more than 1/2 the pitch width. I have been able to score a goal directly from a throw-in, which should be a goal-kick. If I threw the ball into my team's own net, it would be a corner-kick, rather than, I suspect, an own-goal.

2. For some reason, it sometimes happens by default that the player taking a goal-kick will be facing his own goal line and kicking the ball results in a corner. It would be better if a goal kick's direction is always restricted to go forwards or sideways, never back towards the goal line.

3. Occasionally the goalkeeper can come running to collect the ball and will control the ball outside of the penalty box. That should be handball, a free kick and a yellow or red card.

[Morkin]

Have been enjoying this, especially now I've actually managed to win a game

Just for a laugh, I ran a CPU-only game at lunchtime - Real Madrid vs Man City.



Result in spoiler tags in case anyone was planning to watch the game this evening

Spoiler

Score at end of 90 minutes = 1-1

Man City goalscorer (1st half) - Silva
Real Madrid equaliser (2nd half) - Benzema

Carvajal sent off in the 1st half for a desperate last ditch lunge tackle just outside the area (straight red)

[ianace]

Great looking game, is there kempston joystick support, cannot seem to find it in the options.