In yesterday’s blog, I wrote about the match engine 3D viewer and it’s improved animations , with a couple of videos showing the difference between Football Manager 2011 and Football Manager 2009. So what about the rest of the match viewer?
As with the animations and the match engine, a lot of work has gone into the rest of the match viewer too. There are loads of optimisations in there which make it look a lot smoother, and despite all the extra bells and whistles, if you were able to watch in 3D in Football Manager 2010 then it’ll still work fine with Football Manager 2011 too (as will all other parts of the game) as the minimum computer spec needed is the same as last year.
One of the most obvious of these - if you aren’t managing a huge club with a big stadium - is the new background scenes. There are three different types of background, field, street and industrial. No longer does it look like matches are being played in space!
I have to admit that when work started on these I was very sceptical but I'm delighted to have been proven wrong. There are lots of comments on our forums over at community.sigames.com about how great they look - and those people are correct, as they do add an extra element to what you are viewing on screen.
The game selects an appropriate outside scene to use for a club by determining the population of the area. For example, if the club is based in a densely populated city then it's likely to show an outside scene that looks more like a town, with estates. If it's sparsely populated then you're more likely to see an outside scene with fields and trees.
The player models have also been completely revamped. Player models are the way that the players look, and are made out of lots of tiny triangles called “polygons”. Each player now has a minimum of 1,000 polygons, and a maximum of 5,000, depending on whether you are viewing the game on low, medium or high detail, which will depend on the spec of the graphics card in your PC and Mac.
The stadiums have also had a big overhaul with a lost of improvements to the stands and terraces and different kinds of roofs and lots of extra detail, such as different types of dugout and even scaffolding!
Crowd models are also improved, and you’ll see them move with the action too, so no longer will the spectators look like they are staring into space, or directly into the camera.
Lighting is also hugely improved, with floodlight effects for night matches and better shadowing - particularly in the high graphics mode - to try and make the action look at realistic as possible. We're also taking into account that you still need to be able to see the action of the pitch, though, so the graphics engine uses the same lighting tricks that TV uses for broadcast.
There is a new camera angle too, called “TV”, which should give a similar perspective to how you would see the majority of the game on TV. It’s more zoomed in than our previous camera angles, so you are closer to the action, and shows off our new animations really well. I have to admit that since it’s gone into the game, I struggle to watch matches with any other camera.
You can also now set up a replay camera to be able to watch replays with a different camera angle to the rest of the game, and have options for replays for goals, key highlights, and goal action.
The latter of which is the most interesting, as it shows off another new feature, which is offside lines. If a goal is disallowed for offside when you watch the replay it will draw a line where the last defender is which shows you whether your player was offside or not, which will certainly help you in the post match press conference! Like real life, our refs don’t always get it right…
For those who like using the split screen mode, which is where you could have the match on one half of the screen, and other information on the other half, the radar screen, which is a mini pitch view, is now available to use in this mode. It’s also possible to change the size of the split, so you aren’t forced to use half the screen anymore, you could split it up to 2/3rd 1/3rd or any other way you choose.
If you play the game in the TV view, there are still the same “widgets” that can be used to bring extra information up on screen. There have been lots of improvements here, though, including a “minimise all widgets” option and more information in the player ratings widget. And a new one, called “overview”, which shows the goalscorers.
There’s also a visual representation of substitutions, the ability to turn on or off the player condition boxes, a new stat for crosses and crosses completed, a penalty shoot out bar, and you can select multiple players on the pitch to view their names and condition, rather than just being able to select one.
And finally for today, there are some changes to the way that weather works in the game. Previously, the weather was set, so if it was rainy, it would be rainy for the whole match. It’s not often that rain, sleet, or snow last a full 90 minutes, so weather can now change during the match. So get ready for some rainy downpours, to drizzle, to the sun coming out. The only thing we don’t have is rainbows.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more news on the upcoming Football Manager 2011.
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