Let me start by just recognizing that what I'm attempting to do is insanely and maybe laughably ambitious, but it has been fun so far so I'm going to keep going until it becomes impossible. I'm creating a 2D PC/Mac basketball game from scratch using a platform called Stencyl. The 4 key elements that I'm most focused on, and that make up any good sports game IMO, are visuals, gameplay, depth and customization.
Visuals:The best way I can describe the feel I'm going for is a next-gen version of classic 90's SNES/Genesis games. The graphics are all in PNG format, so I can achieve pretty decent quality but since everything is sprite-based, the animations will have a retro feel. There are 3 classic camera angles: Horizontal (think Techmo or NBA Showtime '94), Vertical (like Jordan vs. Bird) and Diagonal (i.e. NBA Live 95).
Gameplay:I'm not trying to make a pure sim game. That experience is already available and pretty well done by the industry powerhouses. My goal is to get sim stats but at a faster pace for those of us that only want or have time to play for 30 mins at a time.
Depth:I want to create a "world building" experience in a basketball game. Players can create any number of leagues within one game - pro, college, high school or other amateur, international, pick up, etc. This will be done mostly through out-of-game editing/modding (see below), however I also hope to build robust in-game mechanisms for player and coach movement to capture the fun of draft day and trade deadline chaos, recruiting, free agency and the coaching carousel.
Customization:This game is being specifically designed to encourage external modification. There will be limited in-game customization but huge amounts of external modding capabilities using common applications.
Graphics: Stencyl uses PNG files for all graphics, which is great for customization/modding because the files can be edited directly with whatever image editing software you like. Faces, jereseys, courts, logos, menus and broadcast overlays will all be very easy to customize. Shorts are going to be a little more difficult for very boring reasons that I won't get into but I'm working on it. Beyond just the superficial changes, animation modding will be possible as well.
Databases: League, team, roster and player data including ratings will all be stored in TXT files in CSV format. The ratings are stat-based (at least the ones that you can gleen from stats). I'll eventually release the formulas I'm using so that a roster can be created nearly automatically. The trick is going to be a developing universal system that spans pro/college/amatuer leagues.
Sounds: Music and stadium sounds should be easy to change around. I am hoping to be able to develop a color commentary system also. True play-by-play isn't going to be possible but I'm imagining sound bites based on the in-game action (i.e. dunks, 3-pointers, dimes, steals, blocks etc.) which can then be customized with different broadcasters it broadcast teams.
Release Timeline: This is a hobby project that I'm working on between a full-time job and being a dad. I have no timeline.
Pricing:I was initially thinking I'd make it "pre-modded" with real players and teams and just make it free but I've waivered back and forth on that a lot. Since customization seems like it may easier than I initially thought, I'm going to keep things generic to avoid licensing issues reserve the right to charge $5-10 on steam if a full-fledged game ever comes out of this. In the meantime all testing releases will be free on NLSC.
How You Can Help:Any ideas or feedback are welcome. Post below with any bugs, anything you like or don't like about the current release, anything you wish other games had and any ideas you have to make this game better.
Latest Release:2020-05-17
RELEASE NOTES:
- Jump shot timing added with feedback.
- Now able to change players. You can switch to the closes player or switch using a direct/icon switch control
- Added squat/athletic stance mechanics with step-backs, face up, back down controls.
- Added new 1-on-1 drill added with very basic man defense mechanics.
- New fictional jersey art added for several teams.
KNOW BUGS:
- Shoe/sock/accessory animations still missing.
- Player collisions still produce some weird results.
- Ball rack layering is also still a little buggy at times.
POSSIBLE BUGS:
- Experiencing several slow downs on Windows version but I'm running it on a virtual machine. Let me know your experiences.