Tuesday Mar 17, 2009
Friends will be friends
Over the course of the coming few days, we’re going to open your eyes to the wonderful world of v1.2 – the next major release from us as part of our constant development model for FML.
Since the January release of v1.1, much of the work has been in tidying up loose ends and closing loopholes that you, the good subscribers, have been busy reporting to us.
When we eventually got round to discussing our plans for the next major release we had a number of things in mind but the underlying message that we wanted to put out was that we’re focussing heavily on creating a solid platform for the game and this would mean a lot of time spent polishing, tweaking and bug fixing as many areas of the game as possible.
The first area to get our attention was the contacts system. Adding a contact was a one way thing whereby you could pick a member of your gameworld, add him to your list and be notified when he signed in or out and played matches.
Not bad but since we’re already investing a lot of time creating our own little social network for the FML website it would be rude of us not to make the contacts / friends system a lot more like what you guys are used to.
Upgrading gameworlds
The first time you login to your gameworld after we’ve upgraded it to 1.2 you’ll be presented with a series of dialogs and screens that will allow you to upgrade your old style contacts into new style friends. This means you’ll have the chance to initiate a friend request with anyone that you are currently monitoring.
Making and responding to requests
Anytime during the game you can initiate a friend request with someone else and also receive requests from your fellow managers. Don’t worry, if you decide against being friends with someone they’ll never know!
Confirm as friend
Lord of the ring
How many friends you’ve got in FML is not just an extension to your manhood, it’s a circle of trust. Fellow friends can see your skills and importantly get notification of exactly what you’re up to on a day to day, minute-by-minute basis. In addition, they’ll know when you are online and who you are playing in a match. When you want to create a competition or even a vote you’ll get the chance to invite some or all of your friends. A great way to play more matches against your mates.
Add your friends to competitions
Status updates
Facebook and Twitter fans beware; this game could take over your life even more than it already has! The old style status system is gone and in it’s place is a very familiar ability to let the world how you are feeling, who has annoyed you today, what you ate for breakfast, dinner or lunch and other interesting facts about your life.
These updates will be posted to all your fellow friends and eventually will appear on the FML manager pages (did I tell you already these are in development?)
Marc Duffy homepage
You’re my wonderwall!
If all that wasn’t enough to get you excited the final piece of the jigsaw allows you to post messages of support and love to fellow friends on their pages (in Facebook terms you might call this their wall). They’ll have the option to respond and suitably abuse you and your good nature
Friends profile page
New skin
The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that I’m showcasing 1.2 with a new skin, titled Verdante.
Now before anyone complains that it hurts their eyes or that they don’t like it right now it’s optional and will appear via the Add-Ons section. If the reaction from the beta team is good then we’ll consider making it our default – whatever happens we’ll still be supporting the existing ‘Sapanca’ skin
The skin is developed by Chris Rice, a new member of the FML team. Chris is known for his work on some community based skins for FM as well as Cricket Coach 2007.Hold out your hands cos friends will be friendsRight till the end……
Coming tomorrow…Get a sneek preview of the new tactical system designed in collaboration with Richard Claydon and Gareth Millward, authors of ‘Tactical Theorems & Frameworks’
Posted by Sports Interactive in FML development on 3:15:30PM Mar 17, 2009
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