Championship Soccer / Championship Soccer Pro [PC]

Chris Davies

Chris Davies

Chief PESsimist
Staff
 
Joined
14 May 2003
Location
UK
Team
Tranmere Rovers
Question for you lovely people - has anyone ever played (or so much as heard of) Championship Soccer (Pro)?

It very vaguely rings a bell for me (it originally launched in 2003 with a shareware release), and I've read some reviews that make the gameplay sound quite flawed, but...

The idea of a football game where you start out as a 16-year-old and have to start at the very bottom intrigues me to say the least...

With a huge (up to 12-tier) dynamic database and an interface that reminds me of Championship Manager, with gameplay that has the look of Sensible Soccer... I mean, is that not a dream combination?

The website for it is here - this was the video that caused me to do some research around it:

 
TBH, I don't think a Sensible Soccer clone would work as being just one player.
You would be in the wrong position most of the time and would be chasing long balls all the time.

One of those that looks a great idea on paper but probably doesn't work.

The FIFA career mode is pretty decent but only if you ever play for a team that plays a specific default formation that suits you.
 
I've had this video in my watch later list for a couple of weeks, been meaning to watch it, I will now!

This seems close to my idea. I think I said it on here before. I'd make a game like SWOS, but where you only control 1 guy and the controls have some depth to them and are more like PES/FIFA than SWOS. So simple visuals, but depth to the gameplay.

Then I'd want it to be like FIFA Pro Clubs, where you can play online 5v5 with rest of the players AI controlled, or a full 11v11. I'd even have a manual mode. An online World Cup, EPL etc and transfer market.

Guess I need to start learning coding.
 
I always thought about and wanted a game where you create your player from a young age and try to develop and play at the top level. In fact, I used to think about it in relation to Championship and after Football Manager and the depth they had. But even this wouldn't bother me if it had good gameplay and, above all, good AI, even if it were simple in its mechanics. Meaning, the way I see it, this would be awesome. What actually happened with it in the end? I personally never played it.
 
Pagi84 said:
I've had this video in my watch later list for a couple of weeks, been meaning to watch it, I will now!

This seems close to my idea. I think I said it on here before. I'd make a game like SWOS, but where you only control 1 guy and the controls have some depth to them and are more like PES/FIFA than SWOS. So simple visuals, but depth to the gameplay.

Then I'd want it to be like FIFA Pro Clubs, where you can play online 5v5 with rest of the players AI controlled, or a full 11v11. I'd even have a manual mode. An online World Cup, EPL etc and transfer market.

Guess I need to start learning coding.
Click to expand...
Unity is a great video game development platform. There are some great tutorials you can follow around to learn the basics. The challenge isn’t in the programming - it’s in the development. By that I mean, how would you make it have good AI? You would need each player to evaluate the situation: what position they are playing, how far they are in/out of ideal position, where the other 21 players are, game context (score, time remaining), where the ball is. It has nothing to do with programming languages, specifically: it’s about developing a decisionmaking structure that works in all situations. If you can do that, the coding is the easy part.
 
The full game is free in my link in the first post (here), but it requires a bit of work with dgVoodoo to work smoothly on modern machines (he does explain the process on the website and it's fairly easy).

My experience so far has been mixed - I tried a couple of careers starting as a 16-year-old with no club, and after eight weeks of simming, nothing happened. Then I clicked a button meant for managers (you can choose to be a player, manager or player-manager) and the game crashed. So next time, I'll just choose a club to start with...

I played a few friendlies (which is surprisingly difficult to set up - the user interface isn't the best). The gameplay feels like some kind of full-manual Sensible Soccer (the length of time you press the input impacts how near/far the ball goes, and passes don't seem to be magnetised).

I'm really sad development seems to have stopped on it a long time ago, because the depth seems pretty great to me.
 
Anyone tried the new version yet, which apparently no longer needs the dgVooDoo fix?

Loving the depth it appears to have and the flexibility to play as a player, manager, player-manager, or control whole team.

Not sure how satisfying going back to a sensi-soccer style gameplay will be after 30 years but with players having 18 dynamic skills, if the on pitch gameplay is at least reasonably engaging and has interesting enough player variety and variety in team AI, there could be a bit (or quite a lot) of mileage in this one, even just as a fun football management game.

I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of starting out in the 12th tier as a player or manager and seeing how things develop.
 
normazimuth said:
Anyone tried the new version yet, which apparently no longer needs the dgVooDoo fix?

Loving the depth it appears to have and the flexibility to play as a player, manager, player-manager, or control whole team.

Not sure how satisfying going back to a sensi-soccer style gameplay will be after 30 years but with players having 18 dynamic skills, if the on pitch gameplay is at least reasonably engaging and has interesting enough player variety and variety in team AI, there could be a bit (or quite a lot) of mileage in this one, even just as a fun football management game.

I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of starting out in the 12th tier as a player or manager and seeing how things develop.
Click to expand...
I’m following this project and I’m glad to ear that dgVooDoo fix is no longer needed.
Indeed, I’m very curious to see the new 3D version and I’m thinking to buy the one with 2027 included. I only would like to know where will be possible to find modded database to have all licensed clubs and leagues.
The idea is very interesting, it’s an interactive version of the browser game “The new goat”
 
Has anybody tried the 3D version of the game?
By the looks of it, it seems pretty interesting... But I don't know. I'll probably just have to find a way to make my football videogames monkey* shut up, considering that my spare time is extremely limited at the moment.

*well, I don't know whether outside of Italy this thing about "the monkey" makes any sense or not, but we generally use it to define someone who has a kind of obsession for something (it was about alcohol/drugs originally, but then its usage expanded) he/she can't stay away from.
 
*aLe said:
Has anybody tried the 3D version of the game?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I bought it a few weeks ago and it's actually pretty good. I did wonder if Sensi-Soccer style gameplay would feel too much like a regression from PES but the on-pitch gameplay is decent fun and the management side is plenty deep enough for me, without being too much of a chore or endless details that don't interest me.

One of the biggest draws for me is the fact you can create your own leagues, with up to 12 divisions per country, and have a huge number of other league across the world running concurrently. There are also decent options for customising kits, crowd chants, etc, so a particular appeal to me has been the ability to create local amateur leagues and tag them onto the bottom end of my national league structure, and try rising from division 12, playing in front of tiny crowds, up to division 1, then on into Europe.

I also like that you can play controlling a single player, a whole team, player-manager, manager and simply just spectate as the world unfolds and choose to watch any match you want.

Don't expect it to be a PES-beater in terms of gameplay - it's old-school gameplay but modernised with 360 movement, passes into open space, etc. The general flow of the matches is decent, with enough grind and errors by both teams, and it's definitely not too easy.

It's just a single developer who's created it but he's back on it full-time and releasing updates and improvements pretty much daily.

For about £12, I've already got my money's worth and will get plenty more hours of fun out of it.
 
*aLe said:
*well, I don't know whether outside of Italy this thing about "the monkey" makes any sense or not, but we generally use it to define someone who has a kind of obsession for something (it was about alcohol/drugs originally, but then its usage expanded) he/she can't stay away from.
Click to expand...

Similar :)

1793697791396.png
 
normazimuth said:
Yeah, I bought it a few weeks ago and it's actually pretty good. I did wonder if Sensi-Soccer style gameplay would feel too much like a regression from PES but the on-pitch gameplay is decent fun and the management side is plenty deep enough for me, without being too much of a chore or endless details that don't interest me.

One of the biggest draws for me is the fact you can create your own leagues, with up to 12 divisions per country, and have a huge number of other league across the world running concurrently. There are also decent options for customising kits, crowd chants, etc, so a particular appeal to me has been the ability to create local amateur leagues and tag them onto the bottom end of my national league structure, and try rising from division 12, playing in front of tiny crowds, up to division 1, then on into Europe.

I also like that you can play controlling a single player, a whole team, player-manager, manager and simply just spectate as the world unfolds and choose to watch any match you want.

Don't expect it to be a PES-beater in terms of gameplay - it's old-school gameplay but modernised with 360 movement, passes into open space, etc. The general flow of the matches is decent, with enough grind and errors by both teams, and it's definitely not too easy.

It's just a single developer who's created it but he's back on it full-time and releasing updates and improvements pretty much daily.

For about £12, I've already got my money's worth and will get plenty more hours of fun out of it.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, I appreciated the feedback.

Placebo said:
Similar :)
Click to expand...
I thought we were the only ones!
 
I downloaded the 2026 version of the game (I chose the "founder" level at the end) and I must say that it has potential.
As everything, it isn't perfect by any means and still has some rough edges and some things that I disagree with, but there's fun to be had with this game.
I just played two matches: one as Napoli against Juventus (and I've been hammered) and the other as Arsenal against Chelsea and I managed to come back from 2-0 down to 2-2 only to concede th winner at minute 84 while I was short-handed for a red card (speaking of which, I got three of them in two matches... We really can't say that the ref is lenient).

The 2-2 goal is the one that I enjoyed the most of all the ones scored and conceded so far (even if it's actually been scored by an AI-controlled player, he did exactly wat I was meaning him to do).
I liked the counter attack, the challenge with which I just moved the ball away from the defender a moment before he could reach it, and then the way my teammate just headed the ball deflecting it just a little but enough to fool the keeper:
​
 
I played some other matches with this and I can definitely say, without any doubt, that it’s already paid my 25€ back.
It’s definitely not as deep as FIFA or PES on the pitch (I already knew it before making the purchase, as per @normazimuth’s post and for having seen some gameplay videos) and it’s a bit frustrating at times, but I’m having fun.
A thing that I love is the way you could get past opponents: having the chance to knock the ball ahead in order to have a temporary speed boost and burst past a defender is great and it’s soooo satisfying when you get the hang of it (prepare yourself though as you’ll be going to give the ball away many and many times before succeeding, if you don’t time the “knock” properly).
Definitely worth trying, if you have 15€ to spare.
 
It really is a cracking little game and has so much charm.

One of my favourite aspects is the way you can personalise it, create whatever league structures and teams you want, then assign unique crowd sounds to each team and league, from general crowd ambience, chants, goal cheers, boos, entrance & goal music, etc, so every match can sound as unique and authentic as you want, whether you’re playing a local amateur match on a public park, or at the Camp Nou. It really does make a difference to be able to create the right sort of atmosphere for each team and league.

The developer has also now added the ability to set up regional leagues, with promotion and relegation based on the part of the country each team is from, so a proper pyramid structure is now possible, rather than the vertical ladder structure. If you're interested in lower and non-league football, I think this is as good as it gets in a football game.

You can assign each team a real world weather station and pull in the current weather conditions, so can be playing in wind, rain, fog, snow, etc, depending upon the real current weather at that station. It all adds to the charm.

The developer deserves huge kudos for his work ethic and commitment. He's already implemented a ton of stuff that we've suggested on his discord, fixes issues either immediately or as soon as is practical, is continually improving and adding to the game, and has an integrity that puts many of the big, corporate developers to shame. He's all about making his game better, not about how to extract as much money from gullible customers as he can. It's how gaming used to be in the 1990s, when the ethos was to make a game as good as it can be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom