Into the Italian Boot: Next Playtest Deepdive!

With Playtest Italy now full and the league tables (and new rivalries) all revealed, the anticipation is thick in the air. It’s time to shift our attention from the registrations to the thrilling part — the gameplay! In this article, we highlight some of the features and improvements you can expect in the next playtest while also touching on some key areas of community feedback from the last playtest. Let’s get into it!

Balancing the Core Gameplay Economy ⚖️

Variance ⚽

In the gaming world, the terms “variance” and “rating” might seem ambiguous, but for us at Footium, they are parts of what we term the “gameplay economy.” From your invaluable feedback during the last playtest, one message came across loud and clear: the impact of variance and ratings didn’t pack the punch you were expecting.

We found that the gameplay economy was implemented into the last Playtest how we wanted it. However, the feedback propelled us to delve deeper and we identified elements causing the gameplay economy to behave in ways we hadn’t anticipated. This underscores the significance of playtests — when we have a community as passionate as ours, every feedback — every nuance — gets us closer to perfecting Footium.

Rest assured, the bug identified within the gameplay economy has been addressed. Come next playtest, the over-variance that some of you experienced should be a thing of the past. But this isn’t the end; we implore you to keep testing, keep sharing, and be as detailed as possible in your feedback in Playtest Italy. While we have honed in on the variance, we want to ensure that it feels right for you. Remember, our game economy is something that we have complete control of and can change very easily, to seek that sweet spot level for optimal gameplay so do not worry.

Condition 🏃

As previously mentioned there was a bug with condition in the last Playtest which was leading to it resetting. We’ve addressed the condition reset bug, and it was fixed towards the end of the previous playtest, so you will be able to see those inactive managers getting punished throughout the season! With there being 2 games for your team in a 24 hour period in Playtest Italy, condition regeneration will be 2x faster so keep an eye out for that as well!

For those astute managers who’ve strategised, traded effectively, and ensured their squads are in top form: your efforts won’t be in vain. The upcoming playtest should be a testament to the difference quality management makes. Your top-tier squad, optimised for fitness and skill, should now truly shine on the pitch.

What’s New? ✨

👑 O’ Captain, My Captain!

Every team needs their leader. It’s time to find the Roy Keane’s & Vincent Kompany’s within your squad and appoint a captain who can help lead your club to glory! Appointing a captain will now have an effect on your team and you will be able to witness the influence of their leadership on the field.

🦵 Set Pieces Refinement

One of the standout discussions from the last playtest was around the dynamics of set pieces. We’ve taken a look at how set pieces (corners, throw-ins & freekicks) worked and have refined them for a more true footballing experience. Please let us know any feedback you have on these once the Playtest goes live!

🎟 Prize Page

As previously mentioned, this playtest debuts the much-awaited prizes page. Dive into the page, strategise your game, and set your sights on those unique incentives for this playtest. Remember, every effort counts, every game matters!

A reminder that your position in the league will determine how many tickets you win. Use your tickets to buy entries into exciting prize draws of your choice!

Raffles you can choose to enter with your tickets include:

• Legendary Player
• High Division Footium Club
• Badge Upgrades

You can find out more about prizes here.

⚙️ On the Path of Continuous Improvement

It’s an ongoing journey, and with every playtest, we strive for improvements as we head to launch. We are happy to be just around the corner from Playtest Italy just 3 and a half weeks after our last one ended as we are on track with our new frequent testing strategy. Based on the invaluable feedback from the last playtest, we’ve made the following enhancements:

• Tactical Tweaks: We’ve ironed out some glitches in the tactical changes, ensuring smoother transitions and strategic shifts during matches.
• Enhanced Commentary Visualisation: Stay connected with game even further with some new commentaries, more will be added soon as well. Feel the pulse of the match!

📅 Embrace the Seasonality!

Seasonality will be another addition to this playtest — while it might not be one you notice as much, it is crucial as we move closer to launch & will need to be tested thoroughly. This feature introduces the concept of promotion and relegation while also splitting the seasons into a pre-season, post-season and post-season state.

Moving Forward 🚀

To end the article we also wanted to touch on two of the other major bits of feedback we received alongside balancing from the last Playtest so you can further understand where we are at with development:

Team Mentality 🔜

A prominent piece of feedback we received centred around reintroducing playstyles, which we’ve decided to aptly rename as “Team Mentality.”

In response, our team has been hard at work fine-tuning and re-embedding this feature. Our goal is to provide you with greater in-match control, allowing you to mould your team’s approach on the pitch in real-time.

However, it’s crucial for us to build our game on a solid foundation. Given the recent adjustments made to our core gameplay economy, we’ve taken the deliberate decision to leave out the revamped “Team Mentality” from this playtest. This ensures we can get a pure look at how the core gameplay mechanics function — but rest assured it is coming back very soon 😉

Goalscorers 🥅

One observation we encountered from the last playtest revolves around the positioning and performance of centre-forwards (CFs). Many felt that CFs, traditionally the sharpshooters of the team, were venturing far and wide across the pitch, leading to a reduced presence in front of the goal.

It’s essential to understand that Footium’s gameplay mechanics draw heavily from real-world data. In the world of football, it’s a fluid and dynamic sport where positional play isn’t always rigid. For instance, the average position of a striker can vary significantly depending on the team’s strategy, the flow of the match, and specific player tendencies.

However, we do acknowledge and understand the sentiment expressed. Centre-forwards, by virtue of their role, are often expected to be lurking in more advanced positions, ready to pounce on goal-scoring opportunities. With this feedback in hand, we’re committed to revisiting and recalibrating the positional tendencies of CFs to ensure they maintain a more pronounced presence in the goal-danger areas (absolute Gary Lineker Poachers). We’re hopeful that this adjustment will bring a better balance between realism and gameplay expectations!

📣 Playtest Key Details Reminder:

This playtest will be different to any test we have done before as we aim for quicker tests and feedback loops. There will be 2 days of trading before matches begin. There will then be 5.5 days of two games a day of action!

The fixture scheduling has once again set by your preferred times stated in the form however with there being 2 games a day, your second fixture will always be 12 hours after your main game of the day. For example, if you are playing at 3pm UK Time, your other game of the day will be at 3am UK Time.

• Testers: 180 Clubs (first come first served on September 4th)
• Length: 7 days (2 days of pre-season for trades, 5.5 days of games)
• Format: We are running it for half a normal-season (11 games per club, 2 games per day)
• Divisions: 4 Divisions, 12 Clubs per league

How to play the Playtest 🎮

The playtest will be hosted on the Goerli ETH test network. Don’t worry about navigating networks — we’ve got you covered with a handy network switcher popup that ensures you’re on the right track to play. Just remember, to make those strategic trades, you’ll need approximately 0.05 Goerli Testnet ETH. If you don’t have any left from the previous beta, no worries! Just reach out to Sam on Discord, and he’ll hook you up with some.

As we gear up for another exciting playtest, anticipate an announcement coming your way next Monday regarding its commencement. While this playtest might be of shorter duration, our expectations remain the same. We aim to gather comprehensive feedback, drawing us one step closer to that first official Footium season. Giochiamo a calcio!