Ballsy! League, a new retro soccer game! beta demo released [Linux/Windows]

[bazkie]

Hello everyone! Some long term evowebbers may remember me from the "Gameplay Football" project I was working on aeons ago
Unfortunately that was too ambitious a project, so I had to cancel it for the sake of my mental and physical health. I can get quite obsessed 😅
I've been happily doing smaller, sprite based stuff since, like a mini football game "Ballsy! World Cup 2020", and a racing game "Buggy Game".

Since a few years, I've been working on and off on my new dream project, "Ballsy! League". It's also sprite based, so I can keep my sanity; but physics wise I'm targeting the PES4/5/6 feel (since I still play PES6 on a weekly basis 😍 those games are like crack lol)

I now got it to a stage where I feel the gameplay is nearing completion. There's still stuff to be added and polished, but the basics are all there. So I decided to release a free public beta gameplay demo, and here we are! ⏬ https://properlydecent.itch.io/ballsy-league-beta ⏬

It comes with a very simple league mode, in which you can play through a season; but that's not finished yet, so there's no player transfers or development etc. But it's nice as a point keeping thing so you can try to win a league season, so I decided to add it to the demo

Some disclaimers; I understand many of you strongly prefer a 3D game with sophisticated player models and animations over a sprite based game, so it's not for everyone, and that's okay
Also, I'm sure many people will like to see online multiplayer support, but I'm sorry, that's not something I'm planning on adding, since it's complex to get right (issues like cheating, renting and managing servers, moderating toxic people etc), and also it's just not something I'm interested in myself.
Maybe both these things can be solved later on, as at some point in the further future I may open source it, so people can make their own variant.
Unfortunately I can't do this right away, since with the advent of LLMs, I'm sure 100 slop variants would arrive before I can even finish my own 1.0 version, and I would like to make SOME sales before other people start profiting from it, lol 😅

Well, I hope you enjoy it! Curious to hear what you think of the gameplay feel, and what you would like to see changed or added! Cheers 🤩

 

[flokiman]

This game is phenomenal. You will understand the depth it's sim-core once you grab your controller.
I will come back with more extented thoughts. @bazkie you're a genius!

 

[broxopios]

I haven't played it yet because I'm currently away from home, so I don't even have a controller with me to try it on my laptop. I will get back to you with my impressions once I play it. I am sure, though, that it will be an interesting project.

 

[bazkie]

thanks for the kind words! but trust me, I'm not a genius 🤭

I've just uploaded 0.3 with some more small fixes; I probably won't update it as much from this point on, unless I find some major bug or improvement possibility. (an offside rule comes to mind, tho that will take some time to get right)

 

[broxopios]

I played around 10 matches and i really liked the core of the gameplay. You can play nice football with a good passing game, except for the negative aspect I find in passing, which I mention below. So, let's get into what I would like to see:

Personally, I prefer more direct control (like it was in PES 6), so I've selected the retro physics option. I would like an option for slightly snappier movement and directional changes, because even with this setting, the players still feel a bit heavy, almost like they slip or slide quite a bit on the pitch when changing direction.

I'd like passes to execute more directly the moment the pass button is pressed. Right now, when holding the ball and pressing pass, there's a delay before it gets executed. I remember this existed in Gameplay Football as well, and I had brought it up back then too, so it might just be a personal preference of yours, Baz. Often, I trigger a pass, wait for it to execute, change direction in the meantime, and the pass ends up going somewhere else entirely.

It would be interesting if the final build included some basic weather conditions like rain, wind, or snow. If it also impacted gameplay, that would be super cool and add even greater depth to the game.

I know there won't be an online mode and I understand that choice from your perspective. However, since I've always been a 1v1 player, it's something I'm going to miss. Even back in the old PES days, 95% of my time was spent playing with friends at home (1v1 & 2v2) and only 5% on Master League. On the bright side, at least we'll be able to play with a friend via Steam Remote Play together when it releases.

I'd love to see better, more dynamic, and satisfying shots. In some situations they feel good, but in others they are way too weak and resemble a pass. I'd love the ability to score an impressive long-range banger, striking that balance found in PES 3-6.

Enable menu navigation using the D-pad in addition to the left analog stick.

Allow skipping goal replays with a single button press (e.g., A/X or Select).

Definitely a secondary priority, but I would like slightly improved player models.

Will teams have multiple kits to choose from? If so, could you also add a setting to change kits mid-match, just like in Gameplay Football?

Could the match timer be scaled to display a full 90 minutes, even if the actual match length is 5 real-time minutes?

I would like a visual indicator showing when a shot or pass button has been pressed, like on Ballsy! World Cup and Gameplay Football where a
marker (or name) indicator flashing above the player's head. Multiple times I pressed pass or shoot without realizing it, and when the player reached the ball, the action executed automatically. If an indicator were present, I would have canceled the pass or shot in time.

 

[bazkie]

Thanks for the feedback broxopios!

Personally, I prefer more direct control (like it was in PES 6), so I've selected the retro physics option. I would like an option for slightly snappier movement and directional changes, because even with this setting, the players still feel a bit heavy, almost like they slip or slide quite a bit on the pitch when changing direction.

I think that can be arranged! I could add an even snappier retro level. I do wonder how PES did it; like when I give players more "momentum change powers", they can corner faster, but they will also accelerate and brake faster, since that's technically the same thing. In PES, I feel they maybe separated the two a bit, especially on dribbling; like, accelerating and braking still takes a bit of time, while changing direction is almost instant. That is kinda "unrealistic", but it does feel nice. So maybe I should also separate accel/decel from cornering, even if that's physically "incorrect". I'll experiment a little more with this.

I'd like passes to execute more directly the moment the pass button is pressed. Right now, when holding the ball and pressing pass, there's a delay before it gets executed. I remember this existed in Gameplay Football as well, and I had brought it up back then too, so it might just be a personal preference of yours, Baz. Often, I trigger a pass, wait for it to execute, change direction in the meantime, and the pass ends up going somewhere else entirely.

I've had multiple people with this same feedback, so I think it's the most important aspect so far! I think this is another one of those things where I obsess a bit too much over "correctness"; I think the issue might be that the player, in my code, can only pass the ball when it's close enough to them, and when you're dribbling, you're constantly pushing the ball away, so you have to wait until the player catches up with the ball again. The issue being that the player can't run faster than their max velocity, while I *think* in other games, they let the player character go a bit faster for a little while so that they can immediately pass. Or maybe they increase the player's radius when it comes to passing, so they can reach further to touch the ball, than they can while dribbling.

One problem is I'm not really experiencing this lag myself, probably because I'm just very used to it after 1000 hours of "playing" my game during development. But since multiple people are saying this, I understand it's very real! But that does mean it's hard for me to assess the cause of the problem; I think it's what I described in the paragraph above, but if you feel delay is caused by something else (== also happens when the ball is really close to the player already) then let me know Either way I'll experiment with making it more responsive somehow!

It would be interesting if the final build included some basic weather conditions like rain, wind, or snow. If it also impacted gameplay, that would be super cool and add even greater depth to the game.

Hear hear! Will definitely add this at some point!

I'd love to see better, more dynamic, and satisfying shots. In some situations they feel good, but in others they are way too weak and resemble a pass. I'd love the ability to score an impressive long-range banger, striking that balance found in PES 3-6.

Agree; I had the shot power set quite a bit higher for a while during development, and it felt nicer, but it was too easy to score goals since the keeper hasn't been fully developed yet. So that will definitely improve later

(btw; holding the dribble button while shooting makes the shots more precise, but slower; the opposite for holding the sprint button == power shot, but will deviate more on difficult angles/situations/lower player shot stats. but yeah even the power shot is kinda weak compared to how it should be)

Enable menu navigation using the D-pad in addition to the left analog stick.
Allow skipping goal replays with a single button press (e.g., A/X or Select).

Good ideas 👍

Will teams have multiple kits to choose from? If so, could you also add a setting to change kits mid-match, just like in Gameplay Football?

Yes, and sure! 👍

Could the match timer be scaled to display a full 90 minutes, even if the actual match length is 5 real-time minutes?

Yes, will add an option for this 👍

I would like a visual indicator showing when a shot or pass button has been pressed, like on Ballsy! World Cup and Gameplay Football where a
marker (or name) indicator flashing above the player's head. Multiple times I pressed pass or shoot without realizing it, and when the player reached the ball, the action executed automatically. If an indicator were present, I would have canceled the pass or shot in time.

The player indicators do actually get a bit brighter when a pass/shot is cued; but I think the change is not clear enough. I'll make it flash again just like in the good old days

Thanks again for the great feedback! I think I will address your first 2 points (snappier physics option, and the passing "lag") ASAP and release another demo version with those fixes; the other things I added to the todo list for the full version

And again if you can add any more detail describing the passing issue, that would be helpful for me to understand the root cause

 

[broxopios]

@bazkie i forgot to mention that I've read the feedback currently on your website and I agree with it, which is why I didn't mention those points again.

Something I also forgot to mention is that I would like to see the pitch feature standard regulation football field markings.

And could you also add the ability to knock the ball forward, besides double-tapping R1, using the right analog stick as well?

 

[bazkie]

Something I also forgot to mention is that I would like to see the pitch feature standard regulation football field markings.

I don't really see the use of too many lines that don't mean anything gameplay wise. I think maybe you are hoping on more of an "official soccer rules" game, while I'm trying to just capture the vibe and put it in a different format?

And could you also add the ability to knock the ball forward, besides double-tapping R1, using the right analog stick as well?

Well, that would give gamepad users a big advantage over keyboard users. I will consider it as an option

I've been fiddling around with improving the passing speed, but I can only get it a bit more responsive (by being able to switch to a pass move mid-dribble-move). I've also tried having the player "cheat" a bit by teleporting them to the ball when the pass button is pressed, but it just feels wrong for me. And since it also applies to the CPU player, it's very hard to defend against.

I hope the smaller measures to make it more responsive will help enough for you!

Also, regarding the player agility, I've added an extra retro option, and tweaked the other levels as well, so I think now that will be more to your liking I also made the dribbling a bit faster, even on the normal level. To be clear, this is in development, so not downloadable yet! Might be a while until I release it since I'm probably going to move houses over the next ~2 weeks, and I want to do more testing, and maybe add offside too, so 0.4 will probably come next month

 

[broxopios]

I don't really see the use of too many lines that don't mean anything gameplay wise. I think maybe you are hoping on more of an "official soccer rules" game, while I'm trying to just capture the vibe and put it in a different format?

Having official soccer rules is something I'd like. However, my suggestion regarding the pitch markings is purely aesthetic and about making it feel more like real football. From a purely visual standpoint, I would like it even if the rules remain as they currently are in the game.

Well, that would give gamepad users a big advantage over keyboard users. I will consider it as an option

I don't think there's any advantage for gamepad users either, as it would be the exact same mechanic, it would simply cater to those who are used to knocking the ball forward with the analog stick rather than R1/RB.

I've been fiddling around with improving the passing speed, but I can only get it a bit more responsive (by being able to switch to a pass move mid-dribble-move). I've also tried having the player "cheat" a bit by teleporting them to the ball when the pass button is pressed, but it just feels wrong for me. And since it also applies to the CPU player, it's very hard to defend against.

I hope the smaller measures to make it more responsive will help enough for you!

Also, regarding the player agility, I've added an extra retro option, and tweaked the other levels as well, so I think now that will be more to your liking I also made the dribbling a bit faster, even on the normal level. To be clear, this is in development, so not downloadable yet! Might be a while until I release it since I'm probably going to move houses over the next ~2 weeks, and I want to do more testing, and maybe add offside too, so 0.4 will probably come next month

Take your time Baz and release it when you feel ready. Thank you.