I have been posting regularly in the Discord and encourage folks to join (do so here: discord.gg/8BFuwmStGK ) but wanted to give an update here as well. I have been hard at work on building out the college mode. This is a major update that not only increases the game size and scope, but incorporates a number of new features.
Progress is going strong, enough that I have made a limited test version available to select players. Right now I am focused on getting more input on the balancing before I scale up content and refine other features.
Here's an updated scope on what adding college years into Track Star will entail:
Size and Scope
96 programs from the major track and field conferences
Conference Championships, Regionals and Nationals
A League schedule with team standings operating alongside Invitational meets
A much larger game world of simulated athletes
New Features
Heats - The championship meets now come with something new - heats. Instead of immediately entering a final, you have to qualify through a heat and manage energy by making two race strategy choices in the same week. Do you coast and risk not making the final, or do you burn energy but risk not having enough in the tank? That is a key new strategy aspect.
Relays - 4x1 and 4x4 relay along with relay animation added into the game. But it doesn't come for free, you have to earn a spot on the real from your coach.
Rankings-based Qualifications - In high school, you qualify for meets on time. In college, you qualify on your rank in your region or the country.
Specialization Tree - When you start in college, you are asked to specialize as a type of athlete (for instance, a sprinter gets asked to focus on the 100/200 or the 200/400). It's a one time choice that puts you into a skill tree where you unlock new abilities based on your success.
Team Scoring - Meets will have team components, including scoring for dual meets, standings, and conference team titles.
Rivalry Changes - In high school, rivalries are formed against authored NPCs with prewritten skills and bios. In college it's a more emergent system with procedurally generated bios.
Training - training energy costs are doubled to make college more choosy in terms of growth.
College mode still needs a lot of work but real progress is being made and I look forward to sharing it in the future.