Gridiron Solitaire #65: Stadium Architecture
Something's started to drive me crazy.Take a look at this stadium (click on the image to enlarge):
There's plenty of life in this stadium. The fans are vibrant, the stadium details are full of color, and I like almost everything here.
The stadium itself, though, looks like a flat rectangle pasted onto the image.
I know. The fans are rectangles, too. They move, though, and they cheer, and they have personality. And since they're cards, that's the perfect shape.
The stadium itself, though, is limp. We tried a different background color (that's the background color in this image), but it doesn't reduce the flat effect.
I realized last night that the reason it looks flat is because there's no structure to the stadium. A real stadium has a metal framework.
That's the problem. Without the framework, without the essence of a real stadium around the crowd, it looks unreal. The rest of the stadium is such a lovely little world that it's KILLING me that the stadium background doesn't fit in like it's should.
The tentative idea, at this point, is to add some kind of framework around the stands (that would take up most of the gray border space you see in the image). It's just a vague idea at this point, though. I know how I want it to look, but I can't even specifically explain that look at this point.
Fredrik has this freaky ability to understand what I want, though, even when I can't explain it very well. He's working on it, and I have every reason to think he'll be successful (he always has been).
In other news, I was able to get a fair amount done last week after I shook off the Detroit fatigue hangover.
Previously, changing anything on the Team Customization scene required pressing a button to lock in the change. So changing team colors, name, nickname, and stadium meant five button presses per team. Now, though, there are only two buttons on the screen: "save" and "cancel." Make your changes, hit one button, and they're saved.
I also ran a few more 30-year franchises and realized that there's nothing wrong with the stats at all. Different franchises evolve differently over time, and there can be up to a 10% variance in stats. So each franchise has its own feel, which I like.
The new resolution code is in, and it's in the process of being tested. What a pain in the ass.
I added some very simple playcalling tracking as well. I know that I've said someone should be able to run every play if they want to, then have teams adjust in the offseason to respond, but in practice, it felt strange to not have the CPU AI respond. So now, if you're running or passing every play, the AI is going to notice.
It's very possible that I may add a third beta test. I'd like to take what I consider to be a final version of the game and have people experience it fresh. It wouldn't last long--probably only two or three weeks--but it might help me find a few last bugs before the game launches.
Of course, I have to complete a "final" version first.
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