Bad Soccer Manager - alternative soccer management game!

Hi all,

About to put up a demo of a game I've been working on over the last couple of months - Escape the Drop.

You are a football manager. Your CV has magically emerged from the bottom of the pile of decent managers and made its way to a struggling team who need your own unique brand of creativity to help your new team "Escape the drop"
Bond with the team to build morale, build a relationship with the chairman, make sure the stadium is match day ready and hit the training pitch in order to progress through the game.  Can you make your way to the elite leagues as a relegation escapologist?

How to raise your profile
Keep an eye on the league table. You have a finite amount of games left of the season and your aim is to try to escape the relegation zone. Keep track of your progress by checking out your manager profile, look at the league table and see your upcoming fixture list.

End of season
When the season is over and you escape the drop expect to receive a job offer from a team higher up the English league system. Should you do well every season then before too long you will be a manager in the England's top division

Build Morale
Lots of minigames are hidden within the game that need to be completed. The more you complete the higher the morale. The higher the morale? The more attacking chances you earn on a match day. If your team love you then they will work like a dog to win at all costs!

Mini Games
Win a game...then jump in the bath with the boys to earn a morale boost
Golf day - get a hole in one and avoid hitting your dim witted defender who has wandered onto the course.
The chairman's cat - He hates it. Catch it and kick it out of his office before he slashes your transfer budget!
Clear the pitch of pigeons before they ruin your hallowed playing turf!
More to follow...

Here is a sample of some of the nonsense I have been putting together: https://twitter.com/i/status/1366685531321602052

Will post up the game when the demo is ready!

Released an early demo of the game which can be found here: https://janogames.itch.io/bad-soccer-manager

Pleased that I released a demo early - when working alone you dont really get much feedback so it has been useful to get some helpful advice about the look and feel of the game - changed up the goalposts and floodlights from the feedback.  Also got a YouTube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EJoJ3LpNew

From watching the review it was clear that I needed to change the name. Originally called it Escape the Drop which for those searching for soccer games may have missed. Have now decided on calling it Bad Soccer Manager.

Got a bit of spare time coming up so hope to get lots of minigames completed within the game and to get it ready for full release.

https://janogames.itch.io/bad-soccer-manager

Little update here, been working on a few things to make the premise of the game more transparent to the player.
When you load up the game there is a quick backstory to the game which should inform people playing so they get the idea that they are playing something the polar opposite to champ man.
I've done a little work to the golf levels. Previously you got it in the hole then it went back to the menu. You have the option now to either replay or the hole or move on a hole.
Finally added in another stadium game. You have to get the chairman's cat, however you will never be able to get him unless you visit the chairman first to get his kitty treats. Just need to build the chairman scenes now...still a long way to go!

good

The golf ball isn't set to always simulate. If you hit it way high, it never goes back down.
In the morale menu, where you chose the mini-game, if you press back, both back and horse flicker.
Same screen, the back button goes back to the main menu instead of returning to the team menu. The same happens with the back button in the training menu.
In the pidgeon game, there are some issues if, when switching from left to right, you hold the two keyboard keys at the same time, and that happens quite frequently. This might be reduced when playing on mobile, but it's still a risk.
Lastly, when I clicked play and started a game, the game seemingly soft-locked right after the kick off.

Thanks for the feedback - always appreciated

With the golf ball - I did realise that the ball left the screen never to appear again. I was going to fix this by extending the scene upwards but you spurred me on to find out about the always active block! Thanks.

I am unhappy with the transition of the scenes when pressing the menu buttons, and after experimenting with different timings I am going to reduce the delay between pressing the buttons and moving scenes. Fixing the back button issues is on the to do list too!

I've played the pigeon game since and tried pressing both buttons at the same time. I experienced that the character responded to the last button press. So if right was down and left was pressed he then travelled right. Do you suggest I should disable left if right is pressed and visa versa?

I'm not sure how the game soft locked on the game scene? It hasn't done that before but thanks for flagging it. I will keep testing...

Thanks again for taking time to play and comment.

I've played the pigeon game since and tried pressing both buttons at the same time. I experienced that the character responded to the last button press. So if right was down and left was pressed he then travelled right. Do you suggest I should disable left if right is pressed and visa versa?

What happened on my end was, when I quickly switch from one direction to another, and for a split second both keys were held down, that trigger an effect where I was holding right and moving left, or something to that effect. You can stop the actor and not allow the movement code to execute if both keys are held at the same time, that could be a starting point.

I'm not sure how the game soft locked on the game scene? It hasn't done that before but thanks for flagging it. I will keep testing...

"[name] is starring at you menancingly"
I had that message at the top of the screen or something to that effect (forgot the name of the player, it was yesterday after all), none of my inputs did anything and the scene never switched. I played the pidgeon and cat mini-games before going to the match, if that helps narrow it down.

Managed to find the bug on the game scene. I had hidden the next button but you could still interact with it. I've now fixed the problem! I have noticed that people playing press away on the game simulator screen expecting something to happen. I had designed that screen to be as passive but it acts as a link between the attack/defend screens. Showing some game commentary like you have in other football games.
I might put a few buttons in that screen so you can FFWD to the action parts or a tactics button so you tell your team to attack or defend more. I was also thinking of making a half time team talk game e.g. throw a boot at your GK for letting in so many goals.

Bit of stop start progress since last post.

Spent most of my time improving the look and feel of the bath scene. You now run automatically - like in the no internet game on chrome and the jump is more realistic. To build progression I will make this scene increasingly harder the more football games you win to then progress onto an endless runner style game.

You can now choose a new sponsor board at the ground too as well as building the first chairman game which I am yet to finish.

Almost been a month since the last post. There has been more progress with the training games. There is now head tennis and a crossbar challenge to complete as well as more levels in the golf game and bath time run challenge.
I've spent most of today with pen and paper trying to think of a way of getting the game complete before the summer and I think I have come up with a way that I think will keep the absurdity of the game and make it more enjoyable for the player.
Essentially this game is going to packaged up as a host of minigames within a game but the more you play the mini games the more you should be rewarded. One thing I have found is that the scope of the game was getting bigger and bigger each time I sat down and worked on the game. I think that would be fine if I was working on this full time with a team but when I am doing an hour here or there in between a full time job and every day life it has been much harder!
Hopefully I can finish this by the summer!?

https://janogames.itch.io/bad-soccer-manager

I am still hoping to have the game finished by the end of the summer rather than the start.

I have spent the majority of the time since my last post trying to embed the mini games within the play scene and streamlining the menu screen. I have removed the training games and hope to weave them into the game itself. I found having the different menu options broadened the scope of the game, meaning I would have to devote more time and effort into making the mini games bigger and better for the player to come back time and time again. Sadly I don't have the time to do this so instead there are 2 menu options - stats and play. I think this will be simpler and easier to follow for the player.

New features are...

More golf levels - to earn an extra chance you need a hole in one
More bath levels - win a match and jump in with the team. Gets faster and harder as the game moves on.
Sponsors - choose a new ground sponsor twice a season - I have to keep them clean just because my kids keep wanting to play the game. Will find some better acronyms to use..
Lose a game and the chairman fires cigars at you
Option to skip mini games too - rather than force them on the player.
Added in more information for the player - giving them a breakdown of how many points they need before playing a game.

Once I am happy that the game is stable I'll try and publish...

I've got a working version on App Store if anyone is interested in testing using the TestFlight app? Message me and I'll set you up. Thanks!

Here is a link to TestFlight if anyone is interested - please DM me feedback - would be greatly appreciated!
https://testflight.apple.com/join/X3BgjSEz