32 / wfmag.cc
Substitute SoccerToolbox
AUTHORS
EBEN UPTON, DAVID CROOKES,
AND ANDREW GILLETTAs seen in Code the Classics, here’s how to
make your own version of Sensible Soccereleased in late 2019, Code the
Classics shows you how to recreate
an array of video game mainstays
using Python and Pygame. You can,
of course, buy your own copy at
wfmag.cc/CtC, but we share one of our favourite
games from the book with you here. With that in
mind, may we present to you: Substitute Soccer. If
you follow the instructions in this guide, you’ll end
up with a great little game of footie. It features
both one- and two-player modes, as well as three
difficulty settings. Each team has seven players –
and as the pitch is larger than the game window,
the viewport scrolls on both the X and Y axes.A SENSIBLE INSPIRATION
Developed by Sensible Software and released
in June 1992, Sensible Soccer initially appeared
on the Amiga and the
Atari ST before later
being converted to other
platforms. It focused
mostly on European
club football, while
some versions had made-up player names and
included some fictitious custom football teams.
With its top-down perspective and arcade-like
flow, the game had great pace and required a
high level of skill.
The first thing designer Jon Hare and his
team did when creating the game was look at
perfecting the controls. They thought about
how people would play the game and the typeMake a goal-scoring
football game
R
of controller they’d use, before starting to think
about the best way for the action to evolve. “Every
game, whether football or otherwise, should be
designed around the hardware, so that’s what
we did well with Sensible Soccer,” Hare explains.
“We designed the controls around the limitations
of the Amiga hardware, which was that eight-
direction joystick and a single button. All the best
games are designed that way, and it helped to get
things right.”
With the controls in place, the developer was
then able to deconstruct the real-life game of
football so that it could be recreated in pixelated
form. Basing the game on an existing sport
provided a set of ready-made rules, allowing
Sensible Software to concentrate on the skills
needed by players and on the best ways of
providing them with an adrenaline rush.
It’s why some games
get away with a pared-
back approach: you don’t
necessarily need leagues,
cups, and tournaments,
for instance, to make an
entertaining football game. “We concentrated on
the actual gameplay when we created Sensible
Soccer,” Hare says. “We didn’t go down the path
of flashy presentation and the emphasis on style
over substance, which we eventually saw when
FIFA International Soccer was released in 1993. We
wanted a game where the player had to chase
the ball and use skill to keep it. We certainly didn’t
want to replicate a televised game. We preferred If you’re going to take
influence from somewhere,
take it from the best.
“Every game should
be designed around
the hardware”
Download
the code
from GitHub:
wfmag.cc/
wfmag35