PRODUCT INFO World League Soccer is the latest addition to Eidos' proud tradition of quality football titles. With this latest signing our goal is simple - to produce the definitive football game. The game combines fast-paced arcade action with immersive gameplay to take you into the next generation of football gaming. There are over 190 teams from 10 different leagues covering all major soccer territories worldwide. Graphically the game will set new benchmarks. Top EnglandInternational Les Ferdinand has supplied the motion capture information. WLS uses a new skeletal system which can utilise large amounts of fluid motion captured animation, this also gives the advantage of generating higher resolution players. UV texture mapping will greatly enhance the player's visual characteristics, enabling muscle tone, facial features and detailed kit design to be applied. The game will feature a simple, yet intuitive control method. This will be complemented by a whole range of original and innovative moves, more fluid animation and smoother player movement, for a realistic and entertaining football experience. Technically advanced commentary will be provided by Channel 4 Italian Football's Peter Brackley and Ray Wilkins. FOOTBALL HEAVEN Motion captured animation by Les Ferdinand Minimum 30 frames per second Versatile 'Skeleton' based animation system SFX audio engine Full in-game commentary by Peter Brackley& Ray Wilkins (C4 Italian Football) Dynamic camera intelligence allowing smooth camera paths throughout the game Save-game option available throughout entire game Detailed replays available including off-sides Weather effects, rain, wind, snow, thunder & lightning Drone Players, computer AI will take control of a player while you move into a good position, you can then decide when he passes Day or night time play Real-time shadow calculation Four player simultaneous play (PlayStation version) & network (PC version) Waving corner flags & ultra realistic goal net movement Support for analogue controllers Animated crowds All major 3D cards supported Leagues include: England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Scotland, America, Japan, Rest of the World Modes of play include: International and Club- Leagues, Tournaments and Exhibitions GAMEPLAY There are numerous league and tournament options that add interest and depth to WLS. The emphasis, as the title suggests, is international football. Leagues National Leagues can be played based on teams from: England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, USA, Holland, Rest of World. Players can also elect to play a World super-league by mixing and matching clubs from all of the above nations. Arcade Cup Teams from all of the above nations play 5 knock-out rounds followed by a quarter-final, semi-final and final. International Cup The top 2 teams from each league plus the previous winner. 4 groups of 5 lead to a quarter, semi and final. This cup can only be played if you finish in the top four of any of the leagues. International Tour This is a tournament for national teams in the style of the World Cup. Teams that can take part are: Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Croatia, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Australia, USA, Holland, Germany, France, England, Rep, Ireland, Greece, Norway, Romania, Turkey, Uruguay, Czech, Columbia, Canada, Japan, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Bulgaria Season Select a team and take part in all of the above in an on-going season. Exhibition Any two teams in a one-off game. FEATURES GRAPHICS Advanced Graphical methods are used to produce a graphically stunning game. Skeletal System This is the animation system used in WLS. A major advantage of this system is the ability to use one skeleton for all players. This one skeleton can then potentially be warped, stretched and shrunk to produce visually differing player models. This means that the animation's can be the same for any number of different models. The skeletal system allows for around 1500 frames of animation in total. This is a comparatively enormous amount of animation. Because of this there is more room for celebrations, mistakes and double animation's for the same action. UV Texture Mapping Every part of the players body has been textured using the skeletal system, making it look much more lifelike. The players appear as real as possible. Facial features, hair style and muscles will all be definable. Every team available will have a home and away kit. Camera System WLS includes a very dynamic camera, which rolls, pans, zooms and tilts. This is also very smooth and fast, adding to the arcade feel of the game. Visual Effects Many visual effects are used throughout the game, to give it that final arcade touch. Filters will be placed over the camera, to give the appearance of winter etc. Another use for these effects would be the night mode, where shadows would be sharpened up, and all objects would be given a silhouette look. Other visual effects will show the wear and tear of the pitch. In muddy conditions this will denote where the player could even slip around over severe areas. Crowds The crowds all animate to enhance the movement and excitement of the game. Waving flags & confetti are a few of the objects clearly visible in the crowd. A changing of crowd colour textures will be used, to represent the team they are supporting. Parallax crowds will also be used to give a lot more depth, as opposed to the usual one flat polygon. This will be done by placing rows of people all the way up the stand, which could in turn be animating. Bright light flashes will appear, to represent the crowds use of cameras. It will be ensured that these flashes never interrupt or distract the player. Pitches Rather than having perfect pitches made of Astroturf, a bit of dirt and dust is depicted. This will of course depend on weather conditions. The usual selection of pitches will be available, which are linked to the stadiums. Skylines To add a more realistic graphical feel to the game we have produced, different skylines, relevant to the situation of the stadium. These could contain notable landmarks such as Big Ben in London or the Empire State Building in New York. ANIMATION Motion Capture England player Les Ferdinand was filmed in a motion capture studio, to produce the smooth and fluid movements to compliment the lifelike players. Hours of different movements were recorded to produce a library of animation's. As well as kick and head balls around the pitch the footballers will also get angry and thump the floor or trip over etc. The players on the pitch will follow the path of the ball with their heads and torsos. This has never been achieved before in a football game and will allow the user to always have an indication of where the ball is. GAME SPEED The speed of the game is another essential factor. Many games are either fast or slow, with no compromise in between. WLS is aiming to incorporate varying speed gameplay. This will be done through the use of inertia to prevent erratic 'darting' around of players and improved Ball Control. Other elements in the game will help to set the pace, but these are the predominant two. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Artificial Intelligence in a soccer game becomes the difference between a success and failure. Anticipation is the backbone of AI, allowing the computer to act as 'Human' as possible. The AI itself is written to almost anticipate a human player's next action. The AI can do this by always positioning it's players in safe areas that can predict possible outcomes. The precision of these positions can be increased, or decreased which acts as the difficulty level. These difficulty levels are then assigned to every team, giving both easy and difficult computer controlled teams, and easily adding a 'learning curve' to the game without the need of difficulty settings. The next most important area of AI is the linking of moves and actions once the computer has control of the ball. This will require extensive tweaking and play testing to ensure that the computer will never do anything stupid. The only exception here is that the poorer quality teams will make mistakes, simply because they should. SOUND Music The menus are the only area that music will be heard. These will be arcade style tracks, to compliment the arcade approach of the game. Sound effects Sound effects are an important key to bringing WLS alive. The samples themselves will be taken from existing sound libraries, TV footage & actual football matches, to help provide the whole game feel. Rather than use one set of crowd samples, two sets will be used to represent the two different types of supporters. This means that when one crowd is cheering, the other is quiet. To add to this, the crowds will also be extremely responsive and keep constantly up-to-date, reflecting the excitement of the match. There will also be the usual array of chants, sing songs & whistles, providing a realistic sounding crowd. With the availability of the latest technology, SD will be implementing '3D' sound. This will come in the form of 'Dolby Surround Pro Logic', which is still very new in computer games. This will add the final touch to the sound, giving an 'actually there' feeling. Commentary Commentary will be the main form of speech in WLS. Commentary in WLS will be provided by Peter Brackley of Channel 4 Football Italia with a secondary commentary by ex-England player and frequent commentator Ray Wilkins. Together they will perform pre & post-match comments, discuss their predictions on match outcome. Then after the match, discuss the statistics. CONTROL METHOD The aim is to produce an easy and intuitive control method. This will be done by placing key moves on easy-to-reach buttons. This means that the more frequently used moves will be placed on the easier to reach buttons, thus reducing the use of the more awkward buttons, and only assigning more specialised moves to these. PLAYER TASK ALLOCATION Other than manual control all players can be given tasks, or basic orders to carry out. These range from basic position commands to advanced tactical commands for actions. Goalkeeper, Man Marker, Marker - of the nearest free attacker to him., Sweeper, Left Back, Right Back, Left Wing Back, Right Wing Back, Bruiser - Strong and aggressive general defender, Chaser - chases and tackles opposing players who are in control of the, ball in mid-field., Play maker - Skilful player in mid-field who is capable of playing long,, accurate passes., Find Space, Holding Mid-fielder, Standard Mid-fielder, Attacking Mid-fielder, Left Winger, Right Winger, Near Post - makes runs close to the near post when his team are, attacking., Far Post, Target Man - Centre forward who faces mid-field to receive passes and, hold the ball up for others to come into play., Striker, Supportive Striker, Standard Defender