Soccer Star Football Cards
iOS, Android
Overview
Soccer Star Football Cards is the successor of Soccer Star Top Leagues, a football game from the point of view of a single player; in this game you are not the manager of a team, you manage the career of a young football star.
This is the game I’ve worked on for longer, not only because of the scale of the project, but also because it was conceived as a long term service which we are still maintaining and improving.
Many reusable modules have been developed for this project, creating the backbone of the company codebase; Powerfuls Sound System, Avatars Personalization System and the Shader Library are some of which I’m more proud of.
We also created a fully capable football AI from scratch using Behaviours Trees. To add variety to the playing experience several Quick Time Events minigames are included during the match flow.
Visually speaking the game makes a huge step forward compared to previous titles of the company, partially thanks to our Shader Library and a highly optimized gameplay code.
The metagame is driven by a loot and skill system very similar to Clash Royale; players earn loot boxes after winning a match. By unlocking those boxes players get collectable “cards» that can be upgraded to increase their avatar skills. The idea behind this design was to make the game more appealing to free players and at the same time increase the monetization between spenders.
My role
In-Game Economy Design
The in-game economy is designed to achieve two main goals: in one hand to manage a good player retention and in the other hand increase the chances of free players to become spenders. This has been achieved through carefully balanced recompenses and a dynamic difficulty system that prevents frustration and boredom.
AI System
Participated in the design and implementation of the AI, specially those areas that interacts with the ball, like the ball control or ball interception modes.
Ball System
In this game the ball is a complex entity, with movements both based in physics and animations. The behaviour of the ball has to be deterministic and predictable, in order for the AI to work properly.
Camera System
The game camera was designed and implemented under the main principle of allowing the player to enjoy a full 3D football experience without controlling the camera.
Graphics Programming
I implemented all shaders used in the game, with the exception of the UI ones. Instead of individual shaders we use a library with optionals shaders features, making the code easier to maintain.
That library works hand to hand with the Quality System to ensure good performance even in old low-end Android devices.