Footy Bash – New Arcade AFL Game Like NBA Jam and Super Blood Hockey

[game_chromosome]

We did try the NBA Jam speed, but it just ended up being a back and forth of goals (a bit too much like basketball), so some sacrifice in speed really lets you throw some big tackles around.

A lot of the work between Late October 2023 and March 2024 was done in the backend. Tightening up punch/tackle distances to make sure there wasn't any odd behaviour, and even tightening up the marking. Previously, you could smother the ball from positions you shouldn't have been able to, and there was no way to get the ball under a player if they were in the air.

Also the AI was near non-existent in the first trailer, but now they're functioning more like players would. I guess this is where a dev log would be useful...

The trailers primary focus was to show some more reactive animations (looking down for a kick, etc...) and give us a chance to do something a little different.

Pretty accurate assessment on the trailer though haha

Have you guys thought about or tested having a larger oval? That would allow for faster gameplay and larger more exaggerated kicks.

Having a larger open field would also allow for more loose ball and therefore more contests where the ball can be fought for using bumps etc instead of mostly marking contests and the odd spillage.

It's looking great so far. Day one purchase for me when it comes to PS

 

[DangerThumbs]

Have you guys thought about or tested having a larger oval? That would allow for faster gameplay and larger more exaggerated kicks.

Having a larger open field would also allow for more loose ball and therefore more contests where the ball can be fought for using bumps etc instead of mostly marking contests and the odd spillage.

It's looking great so far. Day one purchase for me when it comes to PS

Yep! One of the things that made the largest change was to scale the players down, which kept the same sized oval, but gave a lot more play space.

We also initially during the early development had less players, but added more because it did add a lot more 'dead zones' and a bit slower gameplay since the ball was loose quite a bit more. But I'm glad you did mention the 'marking contest with the odd spillage', as that's someone we're currently working on! Without rambling off a list of changes (really need to do a Dev Blog), having the ball ricochet off a player that goes for a smother too close to a power kick will add in a lot more variation. As well as addressing how the AI interact with each other when waiting under the ball for a mark (bit of a jostle if you will ).

We really do appreciate the feedback and will start a sounding board of sorts in our Discord because of the feedback we're getting.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Great responses DangerThumbs . This kinda thing always fascinates me, the thought that goes into things, working out what works and what doesn't, why a particular approach was chosen. Thanks for the insights! Can't wait to play it!

 

[DangerThumbs]

So in an effort to be a bit more transparent on what we're working on, we've started a dev blog on our Steam store page and Discord.
We love the discussions on here and won't change how much we post, but it's just a way to centralise it all.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I don't use Discord so I'm glad you'll still post here.

I've wishlisted the game on Steam so I'll be sure to check it out again soon.

 

[SugarShane]

I don't use Discord so I'm glad you'll still post here.

I've wishlisted the game on Steam so I'll be sure to check it out again soon.

Same. Watching with interest.

 

[DangerThumbs]

We had some people asking if this was coming to mobile, so I figured we'd post up a short video of the current build. The core game is fundamentally the same, with the exception of things like having to hold down sprint, etc... which would be a bit cumbersome on a small device.



As we progress the PC build, we're making sure the mobile build keeps up. Keeps us busy while we wait for some other companies to get back to us on their dev kits

 

[DangerThumbs]

Hey everyone,

Thought I'd pop in and give a quick update based on some of the feedback in the thread!

We've tinkered around a bit and I think we've settled on a new 'base' game speed. It seemed there was a bit of a consensus that the game could use some speeding up so we've tweaked the game speed (players, velocities, etc...) and I think we're pretty happy with the results.

Additionally, we'll be adding in a 'turbo mode' to allow for additional speed.

I've added in another quick video to showcase the before and after of the speed change. Note that this was straight from a social media post, so the video is going to look pretty cropped!



As always, we're keen to hear your feedback!

 

[Quivorir]

Hey everyone,

Thought I'd pop in and give a quick update based on some of the feedback in the thread!

We've tinkered around a bit and I think we've settled on a new 'base' game speed. It seemed there was a bit of a consensus that the game could use some speeding up so we've tweaked the game speed (players, velocities, etc...) and I think we're pretty happy with the results.

Additionally, we'll be adding in a 'turbo mode' to allow for additional speed.

I've added in another quick video to showcase the before and after of the speed change. Note that this was straight from a social media post, so the video is going to look pretty cropped!



As always, we're keen to hear your feedback!

That speed looks a lot better.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Yep 100% agreed on the speed.

 

[game_chromosome]

Hey everyone,

Thought I'd pop in and give a quick update based on some of the feedback in the thread!

We've tinkered around a bit and I think we've settled on a new 'base' game speed. It seemed there was a bit of a consensus that the game could use some speeding up so we've tweaked the game speed (players, velocities, etc...) and I think we're pretty happy with the results.

Additionally, we'll be adding in a 'turbo mode' to allow for additional speed.

I've added in another quick video to showcase the before and after of the speed change. Note that this was straight from a social media post, so the video is going to look pretty cropped!



As always, we're keen to hear your feedback!

Ok so I think the speed now looks to quick. I think speeding up the game can be done by player running speeds and disposal speeds. It looks like it's running in fast forward because the animations are playing out quickly. It's difficult to make out what is actually happening.

Not crapping on your work at all just some giving my constructive observations.

It's hard to tell from watching and it may feel different while playing but there seems to be some slowdown when the player charges up a kick and gets a ball to take off.

I had this problem with my game at one stage and it felt a whole lot better by keep the current running speed the same when charging up the kick or taking possession. It adds a lot more flow to the feel of the game.

Keep up the good work keeping footy gaming alive!

 

[DangerThumbs]

Afternoon everyone!

We've just put up a new Dev Update that goes over the AI and how we've been approaching it. Again, nothing is finalised yet, this is simply the framework in which we'll be building upon it.

Link to our Steam announcement is here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2622100/view/4264432671983327146?l=english

Have a great Thursday!

 

[berisha]

Anyone attend PAX and play this on the arcade machine they had set up?

 

[dexter_]

There's a demo up on Steam

 

[dav3]

Tried the demo on Steam, it's definitely "AFL Jam". It plays alright for a beta version, although some button mapping enhancements would be nice, ie. what button does what on a keyboard/controller. I couldn't work out if there was a way to switch the active player when defending.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Downloaded the demo this morning, but haven't had a chance to play it yet.

Hopefully this evening!

 

[DangerThumbs]

Tried the demo on Steam, it's definitely "AFL Jam". It plays alright for a beta version, although some button mapping enhancements would be nice, ie. what button does what on a keyboard/controller. I couldn't work out if there was a way to switch the active player when defending.

We've just added that to the next build we're releasing on Steam; at the moment we only have the R3 to show controls.
Next update, on the other side of the weekend should have the pause menu controls and a kick to kick mode where you can have a play with the AI or with a mate to get the hang of the controls.

To answer the change player, you can tap LB to swap player which will put you on a player closest to the ball (or where the ball will land after a kick), or you can manually select a player with the right stick + LB (similar to FIFA).

 

[DangerThumbs]

Downloaded the demo this morning, but haven't had a chance to play it yet.

Hopefully this evening!

Awesome mate, we've had some great ideas and we're working on a much easier on-boarding of new players at the moment. Always looking forward to getting some feedback from you all here

 

[DangerThumbs]

Anyone attend PAX and play this on the arcade machine they had set up?

Hahaha, arcade was the best idea we've had I think!
Those daily tournaments were so fun to watch. 8 teams of two on Friday, 20 on Saturday and 24 on Sunday! We were interested to see how many would show up, but I think next even we'll cap it!
Cheers for stopping by too mate, love seeing the vets come back.