Conditional substitutions for youth teams - Revision history

Jhattara: templated and wikified formatting

2010-05-16T20:54:40Z

templated and wikified formatting

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:54, 16 May 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~''Article originally published 10th of June~~ 2008''		{{editorial
			\| datetime = 2008-06-10 09:00:00
	'''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''		\| text = '''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''

	'''Today we open up for preconditioned [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] in the [[Youth_Academy\|youth academies]], as a beta test. Later on, we also hope to make it possible for senior teams too. Read this [http://www.hattrick.org/Common/manual/Substitutions.aspx manual] to learn how to use this feature. If you who want to know more about the development process and our motives with this feature, please read on.'''		'''Today we open up for preconditioned [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] in the [[Youth_Academy\|youth academies]], as a beta test. Later on, we also hope to make it possible for senior teams too. Read this [http://www.hattrick.org/Common/manual/Substitutions.aspx manual] to learn how to use this feature. If you who want to know more about the development process and our motives with this feature, please read on.'''
Line 19:		Line 19:
	If preparing the [[Match_engine\|game engine]] for [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] was easier than we thought, it was a lot harder to design a good interface and a good logic for it than we initially thought. And as we weren’t prepared to release anything we didn’t feel was good enough, we rather postponed the release.		If preparing the [[Match_engine\|game engine]] for [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] was easier than we thought, it was a lot harder to design a good interface and a good logic for it than we initially thought. And as we weren’t prepared to release anything we didn’t feel was good enough, we rather postponed the release.

	=== Our motives ===		== Our motives ==
	My personal dreams aside, our basic intention with subs from the start was that you should be able to substitute a tired [[Players\|player]] for a fresh one. That itself would also open up for new [[Tactics\|tactics]] and strategies in the game, like get an edge by having a larger squad for example. But after a while we felt we shouldn’t satisfy ourselves with just that, we wanted to open for more [[Tactics\|tactical]] options. So we added the possibility to make an order in advance which would depend on the standings in the game, and also if a [[Players\|player]] gets a red card.		My personal dreams aside, our basic intention with subs from the start was that you should be able to substitute a tired [[Players\|player]] for a fresh one. That itself would also open up for new [[Tactics\|tactics]] and strategies in the game, like get an edge by having a larger squad for example. But after a while we felt we shouldn’t satisfy ourselves with just that, we wanted to open for more [[Tactics\|tactical]] options. So we added the possibility to make an order in advance which would depend on the standings in the game, and also if a [[Players\|player]] gets a red card.

	As in everything we do, we thought a lot about how to add [[Substitutions\|subs]] without making it too complex. [[Hattrick]] is a simplistic game, and we like to keep it that way. When we add new features we want it to add depth to the game, and not complexity. [[Substitutions\|Subs]] definitely the game depth; it makes the manager experience more alive and the game more interactive. And while it’s impossible to completely avoid some complexity, we still feel this is [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] [[Hattrick]] style.		As in everything we do, we thought a lot about how to add [[Substitutions\|subs]] without making it too complex. [[Hattrick]] is a simplistic game, and we like to keep it that way. When we add new features we want it to add depth to the game, and not complexity. [[Substitutions\|Subs]] definitely the game depth; it makes the manager experience more alive and the game more interactive. And while it’s impossible to completely avoid some complexity, we still feel this is [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] [[Hattrick]] style.

	=== What about injuries then? ===		== What about injuries then? ==
	We started to look at adding the possibility to react to [[Injury\|injuries]] too, but unfortunately that turned out to be very complicated in the current [[Match_engine\|match engine]]. The most problematic part was that we would then also need to design and implement a completely new automatic substitution system. There were also some other things we thought could be nice to have, but we had to stop the feature from growing too big in this initial stage – otherwise it would have taken us forever to release. So, we decided to keep the current [[Injury\|injury]] substitution system and let it be completely automatic as always – for now. This means we consider this the first version of [[Substitutions\|substitutions]], and not the final version.		We started to look at adding the possibility to react to [[Injury\|injuries]] too, but unfortunately that turned out to be very complicated in the current [[Match_engine\|match engine]]. The most problematic part was that we would then also need to design and implement a completely new automatic substitution system. There were also some other things we thought could be nice to have, but we had to stop the feature from growing too big in this initial stage – otherwise it would have taken us forever to release. So, we decided to keep the current [[Injury\|injury]] substitution system and let it be completely automatic as always – for now. This means we consider this the first version of [[Substitutions\|substitutions]], and not the final version.

	=== Our hardest part ===		== Our hardest part ==
	[[Hattrick]]’s [[Match_engine\|match engine]] is build around 4-4-2, and if you want other [[formation]]s you reposition [[Players\|players]]. Moreover, you can’t order your repositioned [[Players\|players]], for example your extra inner midfielder, to play offensive or defensive. His individual order is to play “extra midfielder”. In fact, this “extra midfielder” is repositioned from another position on the field. As we now made it possible to change the individual order during the match, you also need to realize that if you order your “extra midfielder” to start playing offensive in the 60th minute – he will not become an offensive “extra midfielder”. He will in fact stop being an “extra midfielder” and start playing offensive in his original position somewhere else on the pitch.		[[Hattrick]]’s [[Match_engine\|match engine]] is build around 4-4-2, and if you want other [[formation]]s you reposition [[Players\|players]]. Moreover, you can’t order your repositioned [[Players\|players]], for example your extra inner midfielder, to play offensive or defensive. His individual order is to play “extra midfielder”. In fact, this “extra midfielder” is repositioned from another position on the field. As we now made it possible to change the individual order during the match, you also need to realize that if you order your “extra midfielder” to start playing offensive in the 60th minute – he will not become an offensive “extra midfielder”. He will in fact stop being an “extra midfielder” and start playing offensive in his original position somewhere else on the pitch.

	Just swapping a [[Players\|player]] for another is easy. The only time you really need to think about what you’re doing is if you want to change the player behaviour on a repositioned player. As a result, the hardest part has been to design an interface which could deal with this in a good way. And to be frank, the best solution we found is not the perfect one. But unfortunately the [[Match_engine\|match engine]] sets some limitations here as it’s constructed around 4-4-2, every other [[Formations\|formations]] is really just a version of 4-4-2 in the [[Match_engine\|match engine]]’s eyes.		Just swapping a [[Players\|player]] for another is easy. The only time you really need to think about what you’re doing is if you want to change the player behaviour on a repositioned player. As a result, the hardest part has been to design an interface which could deal with this in a good way. And to be frank, the best solution we found is not the perfect one. But unfortunately the [[Match_engine\|match engine]] sets some limitations here as it’s constructed around 4-4-2, every other [[Formations\|formations]] is really just a version of 4-4-2 in the [[Match_engine\|match engine]]’s eyes.

	=== Why a beta test for the [[Youth_Academy\|youth teams]]? ===		== Why a beta test for the [[Youth_Academy\|youth teams]]? ==
	When we released the [[Youth_Academy\|youth academies]] more than a year ago, we also said we would use it to test new features which may, or may not, later end up in the “real” [[Hattrick]] as well. So, it’s actually a rather natural choice to introduce this to the [[Youth_Academy\|youth teams]] first. We’ve been testing this feature for quite some time now, but even so we know we may experience some bugs which didn’t show themselves during the test phase. There can be problems with certain web browsers, but also problems which only show themselves with heavy load (a lot of users online at the same time as a lot of matches are being played for example). Moreover, we also would like to know to what you think about the feature before we introduce it for senior teams. After all, this is a major new feature and a big change.		When we released the [[Youth_Academy\|youth academies]] more than a year ago, we also said we would use it to test new features which may, or may not, later end up in the “real” [[Hattrick]] as well. So, it’s actually a rather natural choice to introduce this to the [[Youth_Academy\|youth teams]] first. We’ve been testing this feature for quite some time now, but even so we know we may experience some bugs which didn’t show themselves during the test phase. There can be problems with certain web browsers, but also problems which only show themselves with heavy load (a lot of users online at the same time as a lot of matches are being played for example). Moreover, we also would like to know to what you think about the feature before we introduce it for senior teams. After all, this is a major new feature and a big change.

Line 38:		Line 38:

	Until the next classic winter morning call…		Until the next classic winter morning call…
			\| author = HT-Tjecken
	~~/[[~~HT-Tjecken]]		\| sort =
			}}

	~~[[Category:Editorials]]~~

EchoMan: Changed to singular

2009-03-02T14:32:00Z

Changed to singular

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:32, 2 March 2009
Line 28:		Line 28:

	=== Our hardest part ===		=== Our hardest part ===
	[[Hattrick]]’s [[Match_engine\|match engine]] is build around 4-4-2, and if you want other [[~~Formations\|formations~~]] you reposition [[Players\|players]]. Moreover, you can’t order your repositioned [[Players\|players]], for example your extra inner midfielder, to play offensive or defensive. His individual order is to play “extra midfielder”. In fact, this “extra midfielder” is repositioned from another position on the field. As we now made it possible to change the individual order during the match, you also need to realize that if you order your “extra midfielder” to start playing offensive in the 60th minute – he will not become an offensive “extra midfielder”. He will in fact stop being an “extra midfielder” and start playing offensive in his original position somewhere else on the pitch.		[[Hattrick]]’s [[Match_engine\|match engine]] is build around 4-4-2, and if you want other [[formation]]s you reposition [[Players\|players]]. Moreover, you can’t order your repositioned [[Players\|players]], for example your extra inner midfielder, to play offensive or defensive. His individual order is to play “extra midfielder”. In fact, this “extra midfielder” is repositioned from another position on the field. As we now made it possible to change the individual order during the match, you also need to realize that if you order your “extra midfielder” to start playing offensive in the 60th minute – he will not become an offensive “extra midfielder”. He will in fact stop being an “extra midfielder” and start playing offensive in his original position somewhere else on the pitch.

	Just swapping a [[Players\|player]] for another is easy. The only time you really need to think about what you’re doing is if you want to change the player behaviour on a repositioned player. As a result, the hardest part has been to design an interface which could deal with this in a good way. And to be frank, the best solution we found is not the perfect one. But unfortunately the [[Match_engine\|match engine]] sets some limitations here as it’s constructed around 4-4-2, every other [[Formations\|formations]] is really just a version of 4-4-2 in the [[Match_engine\|match engine]]’s eyes.		Just swapping a [[Players\|player]] for another is easy. The only time you really need to think about what you’re doing is if you want to change the player behaviour on a repositioned player. As a result, the hardest part has been to design an interface which could deal with this in a good way. And to be frank, the best solution we found is not the perfect one. But unfortunately the [[Match_engine\|match engine]] sets some limitations here as it’s constructed around 4-4-2, every other [[Formations\|formations]] is really just a version of 4-4-2 in the [[Match_engine\|match engine]]’s eyes.

Mod-Karlthegreat at 21:48, 12 August 2008

2008-08-12T21:48:05Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:48, 12 August 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
	''Article originally published 10th of June 2008''		''Article originally published 10th of June 2008''

	~~=== Introduction ===~~
	'''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''		'''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''

Line 40:		Line 39:
	Until the next classic winter morning call…		Until the next classic winter morning call…

	[[HT-Tjecken]]		/[[HT-Tjecken]]


			[[Category:Editorials]]

EchoMan: Fixed bad URI to manual.

2008-07-10T10:53:31Z

Fixed bad URI to manual.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:53, 10 July 2008
Line 4:		Line 4:
	'''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''		'''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''

	'''Today we open up for preconditioned [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] in the [[Youth_Academy\|youth academies]], as a beta test. Later on, we also hope to make it possible for senior teams too. Read this [http://~~www93~~.hattrick.org/Common/manual/Substitutions.aspx manual] to learn how to use this feature. If you who want to know more about the development process and our motives with this feature, please read on.'''		'''Today we open up for preconditioned [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] in the [[Youth_Academy\|youth academies]], as a beta test. Later on, we also hope to make it possible for senior teams too. Read this [http://www.hattrick.org/Common/manual/Substitutions.aspx manual] to learn how to use this feature. If you who want to know more about the development process and our motives with this feature, please read on.'''

	As long as I’ve played [[Hattrick]] (which I’ve been doing for about 1/3 of my life now) I’ve longed for a possibility to make [[Tactics\|tactical]] changes depending on the standings in a match. To be able to close a match “Italian style” if I am in the lead, or go all out offensive if I desperately need a goal. I can remember the times when I’ve been sitting in front of the screen watching my games and saying “Hey referee, I want to make a tactical substitution!”. For me, planning [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] is a part of being a manager, and I guess most of you can agree in that. It makes the manager experience more realistic and more alive. That’s perhaps even more important than the tactical options substitutions open up for		As long as I’ve played [[Hattrick]] (which I’ve been doing for about 1/3 of my life now) I’ve longed for a possibility to make [[Tactics\|tactical]] changes depending on the standings in a match. To be able to close a match “Italian style” if I am in the lead, or go all out offensive if I desperately need a goal. I can remember the times when I’ve been sitting in front of the screen watching my games and saying “Hey referee, I want to make a tactical substitution!”. For me, planning [[Substitutions\|substitutions]] is a part of being a manager, and I guess most of you can agree in that. It makes the manager experience more realistic and more alive. That’s perhaps even more important than the tactical options substitutions open up for

EchoMan at 14:56, 9 July 2008

2008-07-09T14:56:26Z

New page

''Article originally published 10th of June 2008''

=== Introduction ===
'''Ever wanted to substitute your defender for an extra forward if you’re down late in a game? Or wanted to turn your normally offensive team into a defensive wall if you’re in the lead? With our new substitution feature, now you can!'''

'''Today we open up for preconditioned [[Substitutions|substitutions]] in the [[Youth_Academy|youth academies]], as a beta test. Later on, we also hope to make it possible for senior teams too. Read this [http://www93.hattrick.org/Common/manual/Substitutions.aspx manual] to learn how to use this feature. If you who want to know more about the development process and our motives with this feature, please read on.'''

As long as I’ve played [[Hattrick]] (which I’ve been doing for about 1/3 of my life now) I’ve longed for a possibility to make [[Tactics|tactical]] changes depending on the standings in a match. To be able to close a match “Italian style” if I am in the lead, or go all out offensive if I desperately need a goal. I can remember the times when I’ve been sitting in front of the screen watching my games and saying “Hey referee, I want to make a tactical substitution!”. For me, planning [[Substitutions|substitutions]] is a part of being a manager, and I guess most of you can agree in that. It makes the manager experience more realistic and more alive. That’s perhaps even more important than the tactical options substitutions open up for

But even though [[Substitutions|substitutions]] has been a much wanted feature and we know it would improve the manager experience a lot, one has to remember that it’s also huge feature to implement. That’s also why it has been put aside for other features during our past, we just haven’t had enough resources and time for a project like this. At times we’ve also thought that the match engine in its current state would not be able to handle it, [[Hattrick]] is a simplistic game after all. But there are times when miracles happen, and dreams come true: This time it happened one winter morning in 2007 when [[HT-Daniel|Daniel]] called me up:

- I’ve implemented substitutions now.

- You’ve what?

- Yesterday I got an idea for how to fix subs and I’ve been working on it all afternoon, evening and night since then. I haven’t slept at all. But it’s there now.

To call this a classic [[Hattrick]] moment is an understatement. Of course, it was not as it was ready to use – quite far from it. But the basic [[Match_engine|match engine]] structure was there, it was possible after all. It would however not have been possible if we hadn’t rewritten the whole [[Match_engine|match engine]] for the [[Youth_Academy|youth academies]]. So, one can say this is also a result of the implementation of the [[Youth_Academy|youth teams]].

If preparing the [[Match_engine|game engine]] for [[Substitutions|substitutions]] was easier than we thought, it was a lot harder to design a good interface and a good logic for it than we initially thought. And as we weren’t prepared to release anything we didn’t feel was good enough, we rather postponed the release.

=== Our motives ===
My personal dreams aside, our basic intention with subs from the start was that you should be able to substitute a tired [[Players|player]] for a fresh one. That itself would also open up for new [[Tactics|tactics]] and strategies in the game, like get an edge by having a larger squad for example. But after a while we felt we shouldn’t satisfy ourselves with just that, we wanted to open for more [[Tactics|tactical]] options. So we added the possibility to make an order in advance which would depend on the standings in the game, and also if a [[Players|player]] gets a red card.

As in everything we do, we thought a lot about how to add [[Substitutions|subs]] without making it too complex. [[Hattrick]] is a simplistic game, and we like to keep it that way. When we add new features we want it to add depth to the game, and not complexity. [[Substitutions|Subs]] definitely the game depth; it makes the manager experience more alive and the game more interactive. And while it’s impossible to completely avoid some complexity, we still feel this is [[Substitutions|substitutions]] [[Hattrick]] style.

=== What about injuries then? ===
We started to look at adding the possibility to react to [[Injury|injuries]] too, but unfortunately that turned out to be very complicated in the current [[Match_engine|match engine]]. The most problematic part was that we would then also need to design and implement a completely new automatic substitution system. There were also some other things we thought could be nice to have, but we had to stop the feature from growing too big in this initial stage – otherwise it would have taken us forever to release. So, we decided to keep the current [[Injury|injury]] substitution system and let it be completely automatic as always – for now. This means we consider this the first version of [[Substitutions|substitutions]], and not the final version.

=== Our hardest part ===
[[Hattrick]]’s [[Match_engine|match engine]] is build around 4-4-2, and if you want other [[Formations|formations]] you reposition [[Players|players]]. Moreover, you can’t order your repositioned [[Players|players]], for example your extra inner midfielder, to play offensive or defensive. His individual order is to play “extra midfielder”. In fact, this “extra midfielder” is repositioned from another position on the field. As we now made it possible to change the individual order during the match, you also need to realize that if you order your “extra midfielder” to start playing offensive in the 60th minute – he will not become an offensive “extra midfielder”. He will in fact stop being an “extra midfielder” and start playing offensive in his original position somewhere else on the pitch.

Just swapping a [[Players|player]] for another is easy. The only time you really need to think about what you’re doing is if you want to change the player behaviour on a repositioned player. As a result, the hardest part has been to design an interface which could deal with this in a good way. And to be frank, the best solution we found is not the perfect one. But unfortunately the [[Match_engine|match engine]] sets some limitations here as it’s constructed around 4-4-2, every other [[Formations|formations]] is really just a version of 4-4-2 in the [[Match_engine|match engine]]’s eyes.

=== Why a beta test for the [[Youth_Academy|youth teams]]? ===
When we released the [[Youth_Academy|youth academies]] more than a year ago, we also said we would use it to test new features which may, or may not, later end up in the “real” [[Hattrick]] as well. So, it’s actually a rather natural choice to introduce this to the [[Youth_Academy|youth teams]] first. We’ve been testing this feature for quite some time now, but even so we know we may experience some bugs which didn’t show themselves during the test phase. There can be problems with certain web browsers, but also problems which only show themselves with heavy load (a lot of users online at the same time as a lot of matches are being played for example). Moreover, we also would like to know to what you think about the feature before we introduce it for senior teams. After all, this is a major new feature and a big change.

We hope you will enjoy this new feature (I know I will!) and we will gladly listen to your opinions on the forums. As mentioned in the beginning, please read the new manual chapter to understand how everything works. Good luck!

Until the next classic winter morning call…

[[HT-Tjecken]]