August 14 is the day - if everything holds up and the builds of these last days do their job, HALFTIME Manager will soon be in your hands. Until then there is plenty to do. As NickFreiZocktLP puts it: "The way the players are shown is odd ..." - and he is right. Animating footballers so that it actually looks good is anything but easy... 10 days to go... Matchday looks like football
We went through the figures' movement frame by frame, with measurements instead of gut feeling.
Running backwards, the legs now run backwards too. A defender holding the line while keeping his eyes on the ball used to stride forward and glide back, as if someone were pulling his shirt.
The side step is a gait of its own. You do not run sideways, you close the gap: short steps, barely any foot lift, a low stance, arms balancing instead of swinging.
The torso points where the player is going. Until now the body followed the head and the head followed the ball, so everyone ran at an angle to what their legs were doing. The head may now be off target by up to 30 degrees, because a human aims their eyes, not their skull. That makes the over-the-shoulder look real.
Forward lean comes from the ankles instead of the hips, the first step leans in by only fifteen degrees, and in a duel they stand close to each other again.
Goals go in across the full width of the goal, the ball uses the full width of the pitch, and the shot is shown to the end instead of being cut off by the celebration.
An officiating team that knows its job
The referee has a whistle.
The hand signals of Law 5: advantage, indirect free kick, penalty kick. All there, all readable.
The assistant's flag shows what has been decided.
The mandatory distance of 9.15 m is enforced, throw-ins are taken from behind the line, free kicks from the spot of the foul, and the keeper stays in his own half.
The teams walk out, officials leading the way, instead of simply appearing on the pitch.
ScoutNet: player search becomes a tool
The shortlist tab is now a worldwide player search with a season licence. If you want to scout, you pay for it.
A role filter next to the line filter, colour-coded like the badges, plus eight conveniences you only miss once you have had them.
New special ability "Gap Filler": half the penalty, or none at all, when played out of position.
Sponsors, boards and mods
Sponsors get a look of their own and their own editor: logo, board artwork, ten fonts, icon preview.
Animated board artwork with three levels, switchable off for everyone who prefers it calmer.
Unsold board slots read "Advertise here" - one glance tells you what could still bring in money.
Mods can be published to the Steam Workshop straight from the editor.
Steam and comfort
Better controller navigation on the screens that matter.
F2 quick-saves, F3 quick-loads. Savegames can be named.
A button to fast-forward to half-time.
Numbers, sums of money and position abbreviations now follow the selected language.
Fixed
At a simple free kick the direction could get stuck: the referee was waiting for a player who stopped at 9.1 m and considered himself in position. Measured: a single scene of more than an hour and a half, every second match never reached full time. Gone.
Away from home only a single mod board stood at the touchline, stretched across the full width.
The goal celebration starts when the ball crosses the line, not before.
Stuttering in the soundtrack while dragging the volume slider.