Is this the best soccer game on the web?
Stick Sports Soccer launched today over at Stick Sports and whether it's the best soccer game or not, I'm proud to have built it. I didn't build the whole site, just did all the actionscript programming for the game (Brian did the graphics while the Stick Sports team built the site itself and the back-end for the game).
It's the most complex flash game I've created and was both difficult and fun to do. Before this project I wasn't particlarly in to Soccer games. On the web, all the socer games seem simple and dull (another keepy-uppy game anyone?). Console games like Pro Evolution & Fifa Soccer, on the other hand, seem very complex and consequently dull for beginners as one struggles to learn the necessary skills to enjoy the game. I know a lot of people love them but I don't have the time to devote to learning the skills needed to play these games well. I hope, with Stick Sports Soccer, we've created a good in between game where it's easy to pick up and hard to master - simple and challenging in equal measure. Give it a go and let us know what you think - here or at the Stick Sports forums.
As the programmer, the most interesting bit was getting the AI right. I started with various code for manage complex state machines, then built the code for the different states and finally played with the parameters to get the feel just right. All the while remembering that I've played it so much during development that my opinion on difficulty level is not a representative one. So thank you to the beta testers for their feedback. I'll write a little about the AI code another time. Meanwhile, go play the game.
Also in the collection Web Games