Welcome to the Steam page of my planned football manager Startelf. I'm Sandor, the developer of the game, and I'll be reporting here on an irregular basis about the development of the game.
A lot has happened in the last six months, but the project is still in its infancy. The programming experience I gained from the first part of the game, Player's Eleven (available here on Steam, it's worth a look!), helped me a lot to create a good basis for Startelf. Because I learned some points from the programming of Player's Eleven, as well as making mistakes, of course, which I don't want to repeat in Part 2.
Why am I writing in the singular here? Quite simply, Startelf is a one-man project! Football managers have always been my greatest (gaming) passion, and with Player's Eleven I have fulfilled my dream of having my own manager. But how can only one programmer programme an entire game, especially something as complex as a football manager? Quite simple: with time. Of course, the development will take some time, but I'm not putting myself under any pressure to release the game. It will come when it is ready. Since programming and football manager are part of my hobbies, I simply combined both interests, that's it.
I would like to use the first developer blog for some basic things. Today it's less about tactics, training camps, titles or coaches, but more about basic things about the game. With German football managers, it always bothered me that you had to do practically everything. You were sports director, trainer, chief scout, economic director, builder, stadium expansion manager, ticket price setter, sponsor deal maker and personnel manager all in one. On the other hand, there was an anonymous board of directors that had to be satisfied. That's the way it was, that's the way it is, and that's the way it would always be if Startelf didn't shake up the dusty traditions of the genre. Because in Startelf you are supposed to be able to choose these roles freely and combine them as you like. The roles you don't play are supposed to be filled with real (i.e. simulated, quasi not real) people with whom you have to interact, who can oppose you or support you. So the aim of the development is that you find yourself in the microcosm of football and are much more involved in the structures of a football club.
In addition, and this is the second big point, there will be a stakeholder system. Stakeholders are simply other players inside or outside the club who pursue their own interests. Fans, sponsors, the press and, above all, investors will be part of the playing world and will also have a real influence. So the press should no longer be content with just announcing multi-million dollar transfers, the fans should not just flock to the stadium as a will-less mass and the investors should not just open their wallets. I want the press to be used in a targeted way, but I also want it to be able to create a bad atmosphere at the club. The fans have demands and sometimes announce them. And investors are supposed to have a downside, too. You can see right now with the Berlin Big City Club that this can backfire very quickly.
So what has been achieved so far? The main menu is largely in place, as is the editor. The basic concept has been worked out and will be presented bit by bit over the next few weeks. Maybe not so interesting for some, but that's part of it: The user interface is also ready. Especially important: a responsive design. If the screen is made smaller, areas, tables, drop-down menus, etc. must of course also adapt. Player's Eleven was programmed with a fixed resolution of 1920x1080, a nuisance for those who use a smaller screen. Startelf will be completely free in its choice of resolution, starting at 1360x768. This dynamic choice of resolution has presented me with quite a few challenges, also because I didn't just want a scaling, but really an adaptation of the game's UI items to the screen size. For example, scroll areas now display more items on a larger screen, and the spacing between items is determined automatically and dynamically. Input helpers, automatic shortcuts and a lot of customising have also been implemented. It is possible to create your own skins, and the selection of font colour, background colour, font size, font type, etc. is also already possible. The list of UI things can be extended at will, but that should be it for now.
Startelf is scheduled to be released in 2024, but this date cannot be described as 100% fixed, but can of course still change. The project allows many possibilities for participation, more information can be found in my Discord channel. The first intermediate stage will be the provision of a demo. After that, the game will go into Early Access and then, sometime, but hopefully not too far in the future, Startelf will be available as a football manager that wants to break new ground in many ways.
Sporty greetings
Sandor