We have been on a long journey together when it comes to animations. It's almost funny to go back and look at where we were when we started. Today, we unveil the latest iteration, embracing significant improvements for relays and field events, as well as an overall enhancement to the realism and color palette of the animations.
Here are the high points:
Realistic throws: Throwers circles, realistic landings ones, and differentiated implements. A far cry from little lines going across the screen.
Cracking the case on jumps: High jump was originally what was holding me back. Realistic high jump involves lots of flights, moving the bar up incrementally for each jump. That would be a pain to animate and would take an unwatchable amount of time. Instead, we found a way to split the baby with something I think is compelling without being overkill. Add to that a realistic looking long and triple jump, and we've made major progress.
Relays: Visible batons, handoff ones and live tracking of splits.
New Challenges
I am personally very excited about the challenges feature. This will allow me to add new content to the game long after I am done with major feature releases. I pushed out the first challenge a few days ago, but the game has slots for 3 active challenges. With this update, I am adding the other two.
Mike Connell: Jumping in Late - this is the story of a basketball player cut from his D1 roster who joins up with the track team instead. He has all the athletic tools but none of the technique. You have limited time to get him ready and set an endgame high score.
Quinn Thomas: The Comeback Tour - this challenge focuses on an elite sprinter humbled by a devastating knee injury. You have a few short seasons to get him back on track and setting 200-meter records.
Don't forget to track the Steam leaderboard in game to see where you stack up!
Looking forward to hearing feedback on the new animations and challenges. After this, next step for me is to begin work in earnest on the big fall update. Stay tuned.