SCEA Scores Another Winning Goal With World Tour Soccer 2005

by Louis Bedigian

“…Hundreds and hundreds of tweaks and changes in all areas of the game.” 

It’s not easy to make a sports game.  There are many on the market, and yearly installments are generally “upgrades,” not full-fledged sequels.  But what most gamers don’t realize is that the developers have to get to a certain point before an acceptable upgrade can be made.  And once they’ve finally reached that point, they’re forced to spend another 12 months in front of a computer screen, programming for hours to ensure that the next version is superior in at least a few impacting ways.

To make things more difficult, we gamers just love to say that sports games aren’t realistic enough.  We sure are harsh, aren’t we?  And we should be – after all, we’re the ones buying the game.  Still, we might feel differently if we were the ones who had to make them…

Such hardships could tear a weak person apart, but not the men and women at 989 Studios.  They’re always thinking forward – not just to the next month, or the next season, but the next few years and beyond.  For World Tour Soccer 2005, 989 Studios pulled out all the stops.  They not only intended to enhance the experience, but they went into the game’s development with the intent to use a new technology that would change the ball physics and player dynamics.

For the full story on the new technology and what it means to gamers, GameZone Online went straight to the source at 989 Studios: Kevin Mason (Lead Designer), Anne-Christine Gasc (Production Manager), Ed Loonam (Product Manager).

World Tour Soccer 2004 was one of the premier sports games released last year.  What's being done to tweak the gameplay and increase its realism for the 2005 edition?

989 Studios: Whilst we were halfway through the development of the last version of World Tour Soccer, a small team of programmers began work on the technology that would power future versions of the game. This technology is being used in the latest World Tour Soccer and it has allowed us to have new ball physics, player dynamics and a whole new animation system. All of these elements have combined to create the most realistic version of World Tour Soccer that we've ever made.

One of the most noticeable features of this new technology is the ball behavior and the way in which the player interacts with the ball. Previously, in World Tour Soccer 2003, it was apparent that the ball was inextricably linked with the player animation. This meant that when a player was dribbling with the ball, the player would turn in a direction and the ball would slide into position in front of the player. Effectively it looked like the ball was on a piece of string attached to the player's foot. However, our new technology has given us a ball that acts independently of the animation system. This means that if the player wants to turn with the ball, his foot has to physically touch the ball to turn. When we designed our dribbling system, we were very much aware that this could potentially lead to a seemingly unresponsive game experience, so we ensured that our dribbling and turning animations were very short, so that a player could turn quickly when necessary. This then allowed us to make a distinction between the risks and rewards of dribbling at a sprinting pace as compared to a running pace. Previous versions of World Tour Soccer didn't really achieve this balance in that the only risk of sprinting was that the player would run out of energy later on in the game, but because he was so responsive, it was a small price to pay and the user had no real reason not to spend the game with the sprint button held down. However, now that the ball is independent, when our player sprints, there is more time between touches and therefore he isn't able to turn as quickly. This means that the user must judge when best to use sprint and when not to use sprint, especially when they are faced with a line of defenders. This in itself has delivered a slower, more tactical and thoughtful game.

Other benefits of having an independent ball are that we were able to re-work our shooting system such that there is now a height bar which, along with the analog control stick, allows you to place the ball where you want. Obviously this gives the user a great deal of control and the variety of goals that you can score is massive in comparison with previous versions of World Tour Soccer.

Other marked improvements include the pass reception behavior of the players, as well as their general supporting play. In line with the slower, more tactical pace of the game, your team mates are now much better at supporting you with runs and making themselves available to receive passes, so you have plenty of choices to make with regards to deciding whether to continue dribbling or picking a team mate out from a range of passing options.

There are obviously hundreds and hundreds of tweaks and changes in all areas of the game, but the ones that I've mentioned are those that I think most World Tour Soccer fans will notice immediately.

Clearly, the gameplay isn’t the only thing that’s been upgraded.

How are the latest statistics obtained?  When is the cut-off date?

989 Studios: We work with a company based in Scotland called Touch-Line who provide us with player and team statistics (to help us determine player and team ratings) and data (names, height, weight, etc.)

There are two transfer windows in the soccer season, and the second one ends on January 31st. On that date we will freeze the contents and only make final adjustments to the code before sending it off for manufacturing. This means that World Tour Soccer will be the only game to have the latest transfer data.

How do you avoid conflict with any last-minute changes?

989 Studios: The game will let you customize your teams, so you can change the squad number on the shirts, the position on the field and of course transfer players from team to team so you will be able to replicate real-life transfers and events later on in the year. But since we wait until the very end of the transfer season to make sure the game is up-to-date when it is released the game will be accurate until the next transfer window opens.

Is motion-capture technology being used to create the players' animations? 

989 Studios: Yes, it is. There are two types of motion capture: magnetic and optical. We use the optical system because it requires the minimum of gear for the actors and we need our actors to be nimble and quick.

We use motion capture for both the in-game moves (tackling, dribbling, goalie saves, passing, etc.) and the cut-scenes (player celebration after a goal, managers and coaches on the bench, crowds cheering and jeering, cup celebrations, injured players been taken off the pitch, etc.) Some cut-scenes involve up to six actors at any given time!

It’s not easy to be a goalie.

Which players were motion-captured?

989 Studios: We used a variety of professional players, stuntmen and actors to perform the in-game moves and the moves required for the cut-scenes.

Our professional players came from Middlesbrough, who are currently doing quite well in the English Premiership. They provided us with all of the dribbling, skill moves, shots, passes and keeper saves. The players themselves have yet to break through into the first team because they are still young, but they had excellent technical ability, which allowed them to repeat actions over and over again with great precision. They also were well versed in video games and understood exactly what was required of them and how their actions would fit into the game.

We used a mixture of stuntmen and actors (all of whom play soccer with their local teams) to get the tackles and tackle reactions, some incidental animations, such as run loops and all of the cut-scene animations. The reason for using stunt men is so that we could really hit them hard and have them fall over for the tackle reactions, so you really see the crunch in each tackle. The other reason for using stunt men is that Premiership clubs tend to frown on video game makers trying repeatedly to break the legs of their players!

Game modes – what will World Tour Soccer 2005 have?  Were any new modes developed specifically for this version of the game?

989 Studios: World Tour Soccer 2005 has the obvious game modes, i.e. one-off Exhibition Matches and Competition Mode, which features the World Cup, Euro Cup and Asia Cup, all with a full qualification process, as well as other International and Secret tournaments. We also have a really comprehensive Season Mode, which includes a transfer market comprised of over 18000 players; there is a Career Mode which allows you to take a team of youngsters and lead them from the School League, up to the Semi-Pro League and then on to the domestic league of your choosing. Finally there is a Challenge Mode, which allows you to play against a top team at the top difficulty level. The game monitors your performance and returns a score and a password at the end of the match. You then take your password and enter it on the World Tour Soccer website, where you'll be able to see how you compare with other users on the Challenge Mode Hi-Score table.

Although we haven't included any new game modes for the latest version of World Tour Soccer, what we have done is spent a great deal of time expanding and improving the already existing game modes. As mentioned above, the addition of the qualification phases to the World Cup, Euro Cup and Asia Cup means that there is a great variety of teams to face.

The main focus however, was expanding and improving the Season Mode. We now have 23 different leagues which include 32 divisions. As well as the established leagues that were featured in the 2003 game, such as the North American, Mexican, Brazilian and Argentinean leagues, we have included the leagues for Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

As for the actual improvements to Season Mode, we've added a lot more tension to the transfer market when you are trying to buy players.  When you have placed a bid for a player, other CPU teams will have the opportunity to table their own bids. You are then effectively embroiled in a bidding war for that player. It's your choice whether to stick with your initial offer or increase it. Obviously the CPU teams can also make improved bids, so it's up to you to make sure you bid enough to keep ahead of the competition.

Another improvement is in the career path that players can take. Previously in World Tour Soccer, a player would go through a set career path, which meant that generally his skills would peak around the age of 27 and he would gradually fade until he retired. Now, there are several career paths. These include young stars who appear to be the next big thing, but they never truly reach their potential. There are also seasoned veterans who enjoy a final flourish before retiring. These are just two examples of the career paths that we've included in our Season and Career Modes. This means that you have to be much more discerning when assembling your squad. 

You can do it!  You can score!

How many players can compete in offline multiplayer games?

989 Studios: Eight players can play simultaneously in an offline match and you can have control of between 1 and 32 teams in the various game modes.

Is there a widescreen display mode available for use with the new digital TV aspect ratio?

989 Studios: Yes, we do have a widescreen option.

Who is doing the commentary this time around?

989 Studios: The commentary system has been entirely reworked this year, such that it offers better and more varied game analysis whilst also sounding more natural. In addition we now have a pundit so the commentary is much more like a dialogue. The commentator is Peter Drury, a very popular British soccer television presenter, and the pundit is John Barnes who used to play for Newcastle and most famously, Liverpool. The scripts were written in a way that encouraged adlibbing and as a result the commentary is much more personal and reflects their television personalities.

Will World Tour Soccer 2005 have any licensed music tracks?

989 Studios: The track for the intro movie is "Get Free" from The Vines and we're very excited about it. We needed to find a track that was cool, credible and conveyed the pace and energy of the game, in particular our explosive intro movie. Luckily, The Vines were very co-operative and everyone is delighted with the end result.

The track for the menus was trickier: the menu system is quite extensive and we had to find something that would be varied enough to not bore the user while they select all the options prior to playing a game but not use up too much memory.

Our sound designer came up with the idea of cutting up a track into small chunks (two-bars at most) and re-sequencing them into various play lists which are randomly called to create an always changing tune. Not all tracks can survive this treatment and fulfill our menu music brief, fortunately we found the excellent "Yoghurt Mudflap" by The Mexican which works perfectly.

Where has the World Tour Soccer series been the most successful?

989 Studios: World Tour Soccer is most popular in Europe: England, Germany and France in particular, but the game is sold all over the world, including Australia, Japan and Korea. In fact, each year we add new territories and languages. This year, the game will be localized in 11 languages!

Thank you for your time.