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HOME / AMOS FOOTBALL GAME
AMOS FOOTBALL GAME
Towards the end of 2011 I began work on a creating a Football Management game written in AMOS. This page will explain the journey I went through creating the game and provide an opportunity for users to post feedback.
Work In Progress and Play Testing
If you are interested in helping with play testing for this game then click here to go the page containing the download link for the game.and a coments box for play testers to leave feedback.
Latest Work in Progress Videos - December 2011
Main Menu OptionsShort video showing some of the different options from the main menu screen of the game.
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Match Day and BribesShort video showing a match in progress with commentary and the different bribes which can be made.
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Aim of the Game
The aim I had when creating the game was to create a simple management game along the lines of the 8 Bit Football Management games whilst including more human touches which were included in games such as On the Ball. I had never played On the Ball but I remembered reading in magazine reviews that the performance of the team was affected by external factors such as players having affairs with other players wives or having gambling problems. I thought introducing this human aspect into a management game might be fun and make it less about endless figures and data.
Original Inspiration - BBC Football Manager
Why AMOS
At the start of the year I set myself the challenge of using different game producing software (SEUCK, Backbone and AMOS). The SEUCK game I began was a Battle of Britain Shoot em up similar in vain to the arcade game 1941 - but the project was hindered by the data disk becoming corrupted and I had to start the project again. The project got to the stage of adding the attack patterns when I became frustrated with the limitations of SEUCK. I briefly looked at using Backbone but found the user interface difficult to use, which is probably because the software was not fully finished before its release at the end of the Amiga life cycle.
I decided to take the plunge and start learning AMOS. The football game seemed a good game to start with as it is mainly text and menus and would not require any sprites or background images to be produced or code relating to sprite collision, detection or movement.
I decided to take the plunge and start learning AMOS. The football game seemed a good game to start with as it is mainly text and menus and would not require any sprites or background images to be produced or code relating to sprite collision, detection or movement.
Features of the Game
The game is set during the 1980s and it contains the following features:
4 Skill Levels
Messages from the Chairman
Transfers
Player Agents
Corruption
Training
Pre-Match comments
Game Commentary
Half time team talks
Post Match Interview
Bank Loans
Stadium Improvement
Finance
Messages
4 Skill Levels
Messages from the Chairman
Transfers
Player Agents
Corruption
Training
Pre-Match comments
Game Commentary
Half time team talks
Post Match Interview
Bank Loans
Stadium Improvement
Finance
Messages
Why the 1980's Theme
As I was making a retro game for a computer made in the 1980s I thought it would be fun to set the game in this time period too. As you play the game you should see lots of 80s references from Film titles (Back to the Future is mentioned), to pop groups (Duran Duran ask to hire your stadium), to the images used (lots of 80s football pictures and even classic 80s cars).
Skill Levels
I originally was going to base the skill levels on different Manager names from the 1980s withe Brian Clough be the hardest setting. In the end though I settled for a more traditional Novice, Good, Master, Legend. The choice of skill level you make will impact on the division you start in, the number of players in your squad and the amount of money you have at the start of the season.
Novice - starts in the Premier league with 16 players and has the most cash.
Good - starts in Division 1 with 15 players and has less cash.
Master - starts in Division 2 with 14 players and even less cash.
Legend - starts in Division 3 with 13 players and will probably have to sell players to raise cash.
Novice - starts in the Premier league with 16 players and has the most cash.
Good - starts in Division 1 with 15 players and has less cash.
Master - starts in Division 2 with 14 players and even less cash.
Legend - starts in Division 3 with 13 players and will probably have to sell players to raise cash.
Messages from the Chairman
The chairman welcomes you to the club and sets you the challenge of winning the Premier league within five seasons. This is obviously a lot easier if you selected Novice as you are already in the league whereas those individuals who went for legend will have to get 3 promotions as well as win the Premier league.
The chairman will intervene in your transfers if your deals risk placing the club in financial difficulty. The chairman also advises against purchasing players over 34. You can of course sign older players but your manager rating will decrease as you are ignoring the advice of your employers. This isn't a problem as long as you keep winning but if your manager rating falls too low then you risk being sacked.
The chairman will speak to you after each month and tell you what they think of your job so far.
The chairman will intervene in your transfers if your deals risk placing the club in financial difficulty. The chairman also advises against purchasing players over 34. You can of course sign older players but your manager rating will decrease as you are ignoring the advice of your employers. This isn't a problem as long as you keep winning but if your manager rating falls too low then you risk being sacked.
The chairman will speak to you after each month and tell you what they think of your job so far.
Transfers - Selling Players
You can sell players but the chairman will prevent you from reducing the size of the squad below 11 players. If your had less than 11 players you would not be able to field a team.
Transfers - Buying Players
There are 5 groups of players you can buy from, International, Premier League, First Division, Second Division and Division 3.
The international players are obviously the best and cost the most and the players in the lower divisions are cheaper but have lower abilities.
The players in Division 3 are worth looking at as there may be a rough diamond playing the league waiting for the chance to play in the highest division just like 80s player Ian Wright who was playing non league football before going on to play for Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
Each category has about 50 players to scroll through.
Potential Bug - I still need to check that the game doesn't list your players in the transfer list.
The international players are obviously the best and cost the most and the players in the lower divisions are cheaper but have lower abilities.
The players in Division 3 are worth looking at as there may be a rough diamond playing the league waiting for the chance to play in the highest division just like 80s player Ian Wright who was playing non league football before going on to play for Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
Each category has about 50 players to scroll through.
Potential Bug - I still need to check that the game doesn't list your players in the transfer list.
Transfers - Agents
If you fail in your bid to buy a player you can use an agent to help you sign the player. The agent is dodgy and will ask for a few extra thousand pounds to help the transfer through. The deal takes place in a car park.
This feature is meant to be a light hearted reference to the transfer bung scandals which appeared at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s.
This feature is meant to be a light hearted reference to the transfer bung scandals which appeared at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Corruption
In 1984 Nottingham Forest appeared to be the victims of corruption when the former chairman of the Belgian club Anderlecht, admitted that they paid the referee the equivalent of £27,000 as a "loan" ahead of the semi-final second leg, which their team won 3-0.
To reflect this element of corruption you can make a bribe payment to the linesman, the referee and even the oppositions goal keeper before your next match. The goal keeper will make a horrible mistake and let a goal in, the linesman will allow an offside goal to stand for you, whilst the referee will award a goal if you a losing for a shot which never crossed the line - if only they had goal line technology.
For those player who want to take the moral high ground, there is an option to report corruption and drive it out of the game. If you select this option then you will have to live by your high morals as for the rest of the game you will not be able to make a single bribe - either because you have cleaned up the game or because no one wants to risk dealing with you.
To reflect this element of corruption you can make a bribe payment to the linesman, the referee and even the oppositions goal keeper before your next match. The goal keeper will make a horrible mistake and let a goal in, the linesman will allow an offside goal to stand for you, whilst the referee will award a goal if you a losing for a shot which never crossed the line - if only they had goal line technology.
For those player who want to take the moral high ground, there is an option to report corruption and drive it out of the game. If you select this option then you will have to live by your high morals as for the rest of the game you will not be able to make a single bribe - either because you have cleaned up the game or because no one wants to risk dealing with you.
Training
Training is crucial - it will improve your players. You can focus on one of the three ability areas to train your players in (skill, pace or fitness). You can also choose the level of intensity of the training. Hard sessions will raise the ability levels faster but lower team moral, after all who wants to do extra training every week. Lower levels increase abilities but by a smaller amount without impacting on moral. Giving the players a break increases moral but can lower abilities in some players who probably used the break to go clubbing.
Pre Match Comments
To add to the 80s theme each game is preceeded with a Saint and Greavsie prediction or mad random comment. The majority of these comments are baised on actual Saint and Greavsie comments, whilst others are taken from othe sports commentators. Hopefully these comments will provide some light relief before the main game.
Match Day
You can select from eleven formations (3-2-5, 3-4-3, 3-5-2, 4-2-4, 4-4-2, 4-4-1, 4,5-1, 5-2-3, 5-3-2, Attack, Defend)
The game calculates performance by comparing your teams attack strength against the oppostions defence and vice versa. Moral also impacts of the teams performance in terms of chances created. There is also a random factor to reflect goals scored against the run of play.
The game calculates performance by comparing your teams attack strength against the oppostions defence and vice versa. Moral also impacts of the teams performance in terms of chances created. There is also a random factor to reflect goals scored against the run of play.
Half Time Team Talks
The game provides you with an opportunity to talk to the players at half time , hopefully to help them win the game.
There are five options you have at half time. You have a selection of three random comments to choose from which can either increase or decrease player moral. Remember player moral influences goal scoring chances too.
The other two options relate to a change in formation / style of play - with you either choosing all out attack (increases your teams attack value but lowers your defence value) or choosing to defend which increases your defence value but reduces your attacking ability as the majority of your players are behind the ball defending for their lives.
There are five options you have at half time. You have a selection of three random comments to choose from which can either increase or decrease player moral. Remember player moral influences goal scoring chances too.
The other two options relate to a change in formation / style of play - with you either choosing all out attack (increases your teams attack value but lowers your defence value) or choosing to defend which increases your defence value but reduces your attacking ability as the majority of your players are behind the ball defending for their lives.
Post Match Interview
After the match you are interviewed on 80s classic The Big Match. You have 4 comments to choose from. One positive comment about the teams performance which should help improve moral, one negative comment which might impress the chairman but will probably anoy your players, an option to criticise the referee and then a typical Brian Clough mad comment which can either raise the spirits of your team or make them think you are mad and lower their moral.
Criticising the referee can land you in trouble. The FA can fine you from £5,000 to £15,000 as a punishment for your public rant.
Criticising the referee can land you in trouble. The FA can fine you from £5,000 to £15,000 as a punishment for your public rant.
Bank Loans
You have the option to take out a bank loan. Use this option as a last resort. If you fail to keep your club in the black then the chairman may be forced to sack you.
Potential Future Development: Adminstration - if you go into the red your club may go into administration which will mean you cannot buy and sell players without the Administrators approval. I may add a points deduction and /or automatic player sales.
Potential Future Development: Adminstration - if you go into the red your club may go into administration which will mean you cannot buy and sell players without the Administrators approval. I may add a points deduction and /or automatic player sales.
Stadium Improvements
You can increase the size of your stadium. This is worth doing regardless of which league you start in as the starting size of your stadium is below the top capacity you could reach for the division.
Increasing the size of your stadium will generate more income in terms of ticket sales, programme sales and purchases from the shops.
Increasing the size of your stadium will generate more income in terms of ticket sales, programme sales and purchases from the shops.
Finances
In the lower divisions you may be forced to sell your best players. The reason for this is that wages are based on the players overall skill. The higher their skill level the more they will earn. This tries to reflect the difficulty of opperating in the lower leagues where it is difficult to compete with the wages earned by skillful players in the higher leagues.
Your main income generation is from ticket sales and additional purchases made by visiting fans. Increasing your stadium so that you are capturing all potential sales is the best strategy.
Attendance numbers are based on your team moral and team performance. The more games you win and the happier your team the more fans want to visit and watch games. This reflects that happy players tend to give more in games and want to entertain more.
Your main income generation is from ticket sales and additional purchases made by visiting fans. Increasing your stadium so that you are capturing all potential sales is the best strategy.
Attendance numbers are based on your team moral and team performance. The more games you win and the happier your team the more fans want to visit and watch games. This reflects that happy players tend to give more in games and want to entertain more.
Messages
At the end of the week you will receive letters from a range of people. Newspaper journalist will write to you about breaking scandals involving players from your team, the team captain will write to you to pass on concerns of the team and there are the usual updates from the club accountant e.t.c.
Some letters will require action in terms of whether you will agree with the request or reject it. The consequences of your decisions can impact on the clubs finances or team moral.
Some letters will require action in terms of whether you will agree with the request or reject it. The consequences of your decisions can impact on the clubs finances or team moral.
Music
Music creation is not my strength and I have used tunes created by Luke Miller who released music tracks for use in games as long as he was referenced in the game or documentation. Curently there is a third disk containing ten music tracks writen by Luke for the player to select from. Hopefully this will provide the player with enough variation. There is an option to have no music.
Request for help: If you are an experienced musician and can create a sound file which can be played in AMOS then please contact me about the possibility of including your music in the game.
Request for help: If you are an experienced musician and can create a sound file which can be played in AMOS then please contact me about the possibility of including your music in the game.
Release Date and Donations
The game will be available end of December or begining of Jan for play testing. Once any bugs have been removed and any necessary improvements have been made the game will then be available as charityware. It will be free to download and play but users will be encouraged to make a donation to my just giving page.
Please donate as this will encourage me to make new games for the amiga and improve this game with further updates. The game has taken probably about 180 hours of my spare time to make so far and therefore whilst I don't personaly want any financial reward I would appreciate charitable donations to my chosen charity mencap.
Please donate as this will encourage me to make new games for the amiga and improve this game with further updates. The game has taken probably about 180 hours of my spare time to make so far and therefore whilst I don't personaly want any financial reward I would appreciate charitable donations to my chosen charity mencap.
What's left to do
The game is in a playable state at the moment but the following actions still need to be completed before I will make the game available for play testing:
- Make the game disk self booting
- Put the game through the AMOS Compiler
- Amend the letter / message section
- Play testing and bug fixing.
- Add end game routine for when player wins the premier league.
More Updates
If you would like more updates about the game then you can follow us on twitter and look for #amosfootballgame posts - or join our facebook page.
