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football: play it again
Football: Play It Again is near!
Hello, players!
The turn of the year was mainly spent working at full speed on a new football game. I thought I would be able to finish working on the rules and gamebook by the end of January.
A lot of the work was already done, but there were new things that needed further testing (e.g. Actions). I wanted the game to be as polished as possible. My intention is for the user to experience what it would be like to watch and take part in a real football game. I also focused on the statistical aspect of the game (average goals, yellow cards depending on the era).
I don’t even mention the responsibilities of daily life among two growing daughters.
More weeks passed, but with each successive week, the end not only didn’t get closer, but actually seemed to be further and further away. More ideas popped into my head and I added more things to the course. At one point, I was faced with an important dilemma.
The first option meant finishing the game quickly, selling it and going abroad for a short break.
However, I always wanted ‘Football: Play It Again’ to have no weak moments and to be filled with football excitement from start to finish. That the game should also offer replays of matches in other eras.
And this is where the second option came in. To postpone the release by a few more weeks and take as much time as needed. There was no other solution 🙂 The decision I took was the only right one.
I used the extra weeks I gave myself to the max, polishing the game and adding everything I had planned for it. The result is something truly special, I hope.
I’ll be sending the game out to testers within the next week (if you want to sign up for the reserve list of testers, please let me know). I’m looking forward to your feedback.
I really want the game to be released on my site by the end of March.
Stay safe
Krzysztof
Coppa Italia finals
First Italian Cup Final: Napoli-Roma
Absences: —
Good/poor form: Francini (+) / Tempestilli (+). Weather: —
Napoli – Roma 3:0 (1:0)
Napoli: Giuliani 6, Francini 9, Baroni 8, Corradini 7, Ferrara 7, De Napoli 7, Alemao 9, Fusi 8, Crippa 7 (74 Renica), Maradona 8, Carnevale 9 (80 Bucciarelli)
Roma: Cervone 5, Nela 4, Comi 2, Berthold 2, Tempestilli 5, Giannini 3, Di Mauro 2 (74 Conti), Gerolin 3, Desideri 3 , Rizzitelli 3, Voeller 4
Goals: 1:0 Carnevale 45+1 min (assist: Alemao), 2:0 De Napoli 60 (assist: Carnevale), 3:0 Alemao 75
(Maradona)
Yellow cards: —/ Gerolin 24, Di Mauro 53, Giannini 90
The first final of the Italian Cup heated up the Neapolitan fans. The first half was quite sleepy (Stoppage time as long as 24 minutes), Roma played from the counter-attack and were closer to scoring a goal: Giannini’s header went past the post. The Romans were not fazed by a rather fortuitous goal for Napoli in added time of the 1st half, Carnevale shot and the ball, after ricocheting off a defender’s leg, fell into the net. In the 2nd half, Napoli’s players tried to create goal situations, but Roma’s defence kicked out dangerous balls. It wasn’t until the 60th minute that Carnevale’s shot was defended by Cervone, and De Napoli had no problem with the rebound. 15 minutes later, Alemao sent a powerful bomb from distance, a shot that could not be saved. 3:0. Napoli took advantage of the Euphoria effect (Francini’s very good form) gaining an extra 11 minutes.
A beautiful match, Roma will have a very difficult task in the rematch.
Player of the match: Alemao (Napoli)
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Italian Cup final, 2nd match: Roma-Napoli
Absences: —
Good/poor form: —. Weather: Drizzle
Roma-Napoli 0:2 (0:1)
Roma: Cervone 5, Nela 5, Comi 4, Berthold 3, Tempestilli 4, Giannini 4, Di Mauro 3, Gerolin 4 (70 Baldieri), Desideri 3, Rizzitelli 4, Voeller 4
Napoli: Giuliani 7, Francini 7, Baroni 7, Corradini 6, Ferrara 6, De Napoli 8, Alemao 6, Fusi 8, Crippa 8, Maradona 8, Carnevale 7 (70 Mauro)
Goals: 0:1 Fusi 10 min. (assist: Crippa), 0:2 Carnevale 51 (assist: Maradona)
Yellow cards: Giannini 23, Di Mauro 43, Desideri 55 / Baroni 9, Ferrara 88
This is not how Roma imagined this match. Napoli were a class better although Roma’s coach and players blame the referee. In the 8th minute Voeller hit the net with his header but the referee did not award the goal, he whistled an offside. Just 2 minutes later the Napoli counter, Crippa’s pass and Fusi goes wild with joy. 0:1. The Romans again resented the referee, as Crippa had earlier caused Desideri to fall. Emotions were mounting, a brutal foul by Giannini on Maradona in the 43rd minute, but the referee did not eject the Roma star from the pitch. After the break, Napoli’s deadly counter attacks continued and Carnevale increased the score to 2:0. The hosts were no longer motivated to attack and there was a scuffle by the sideline after the match.
The 1989/90 Italian Cup for SSC Napoli!
Player of the match: Crippa (Napoli)
Summary of the “Football:Play It Again” tests:
1. there were teams in the cup final that actually dropped out in the semi-finals. Maybe I should think about a small reinforcement of the actual finalists (e.g. +1 to the form of one player)
2. goal average – 1.66 (actually 2.23 in Serie A, 2.00 in the Coppa Italia semi-finals). Maybe a little too low, or maybe I haven’t played enough matches
3. average yellow cards – 4.17 (3.70)
4. average of red cards – 0.33 (0.32)
5. weather – Drizzle affected the first semi-final
6. tactics – Napoli used Counterattacks and did very well on this. I should test this tactic on weaker teams to see if they get such benefits too.
Coppa Italia 1989/90
My favourite turn of the 1980s and 1990s in the Italian league/cups I decided to use to test my soon-to-be-released football game Football: Play It Again
My objectives: to test the impact of basic tactics, the weather (first semi-final matches in January, rematches and finals in February and April) and the specifics of the Italian league that season (low goal average)
First semi-final of the Italian Cup 1989/90
I immediately drew the impact of the weather in the first match: Drizzle at the Stadio Comunale (Dribbling and Speed minus 1, careful with long-range shots – possibility of the ball slipping).
Juventus – AS Roma 1:1 (0:1)
Absences: JUV: Tacconi (Bonaiuti), ROM: Nela (Pellegrini), Desideri (Piacentini), Manfredonia
Juventus: Bonaiuti 6, De Agostini 6, Tricella 7, Bonetti 6, Galia 7, Marocchi 7, Rui Barros 6, Fortunato 7, Aleinikov 6, Schillaci 6, Zavarov 5 (74 Casiraghi)
Roma: Cervone 8, Pellegrini 6, Comi 6, Berthold 5, Tempestilli 4, Giannini 5, Di Mauro 6, Piacentini 5, Gerolin 4, Rizzitelli 7 (88 Conti), Voeller 7
Goals: 0:1 Voeller 35, 1:1 Berthold 67 own goal
Yellow cards: Rui Barros (55), Galia (57), Fortunato (59) / Gerolin (17), Berthold (55), Pellegrini (70)
Red card: Gerolin (88, second yellow)
Roma set their sights on protecting their backsides from the start and played from the counter-attack, missing a few chances, but maintaining a tight defence. Zavarov’s missed shots and Fortunato’s t head shot were all Juventus had to offer. In the 35th minute, Voeller struck from outside the penalty area (chart „Drizzle” and a d6 roll – 6) and the ball slipping on the wet turf fell into the Juventus net. 0:1!After the break, Juventus moved sluggishly to attack but all they gained were yellow cards for Galia, Fortunato and Rui Barros. In the 67th minute, after a mix-up in the penalty area, Roma goalkeeper Cervone kicked the ball out in front of him and Berthold, who had been playing brilliantly up to that point, knocked it into the goal. Unfortunately, an own goal. What a tragedy for Roma! 1:1.Another tragedy for the Romans came 20 minutes later when the referee sent off Gerolin for a second yellow card. Juventus didn’t manage to take any more advantage and the match ended well for Roma with a score of 1:1.
Player of the match: Cervone (Roma)
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Second semi-final of the 1989/90 Italian Cup The clash between champion and runner-up this season promises to be an exciting one.
Milan – Napoli 0:1 (0:0)
Absences: MIL: Ancelotti (Colombo), NAP: Giuliani (Di Fusco), Baroni (Renica). Van Basten starts with good form.
Milan: Pazzagli 5, Maldini 4, F.Baresi 3, Costacurta 4, Tassotti 3, Evani 6, Colombo 4, Rijkaard 3 (90 Simone), Donadoni 4, van Basten 4, Massaro 4
Napoli: Di Fusco 8, Francini 6, Renica 5, Corradini 5, Ferrara 6, De Napoli 6, Alemao 5, Fusi 7, Crippa 6, Maradona 5 (84 Mauro), Carnevale 5
Goal: Fusi 49 (assist: De Napoli)
Yellow cards: Rijkaard (27), Baresi (74) / Maradona (3)
Maradona made his presence known early on… fouling in front of the penalty area. Van Basten’s dangerous shot was defended by Di Fusco. Then as much as 20 minutes of „Boring Part” event and a yellow card for Rijkaard (there was a risk of the Dutchman being ruled out). In the 36th minute a magnificent shot by Carnevale from a bicycle kick! The rebound and De Napoli’s shot is defended by the Milan goalkeeper.
0:0 after the 1st half.
The start of the 2nd half shocked the Milan fans: Fusi’s shot from distance found its way into the net! 0:1. Then again a big „Boring part” (18 minutes!) and Evani’s accurate shot defended by Di Fusco. Milan had no idea how to deceive the Napoli defence. It wasn’t van Basten’s or Maradona’s day, who played aggressively testing the patience of the referee. The end of the match and Napoli’s players went on the rampage, such a lead is difficult to lose in the rematch.
Player of the match: Di Fusco (Napoli)
2nd matches: coming soon