Work In Progress: Setup Newspaper

September 12th, 2007 by SM Dev (ste)

Phase 2 of the setup newspaper began behind the scenes two weeks ago. I thought I would keep members updated on the progress of this project and will be posting regular updates over the next few weeks.

Firstly as I mentioned several weeks ago, phase 1 of the new 24/7 media was introducted, and managers with a repuation over 75+ and ANY Gold Member (GM) can write for their setup newspaper. Once phase 2 of the development is complete, it will be available to EVERY member.

So what is phase 2 of the development all about? In a nutshell it is media interaction in relation to the setup newspaper. There will be certain scernarios which trigger an approach from a journalist who works for your setup newspaper.

You will have a message in your inbox stating “You have been approached by the media” (or similar) “Do you want to accept/decline their approach?” If you accept their approach you will be asked a question dependant on what scenario triggered their approach. You will then have four preset responses to choose from.

Depending which response you choose, will have an impact on what story the journalist from the newspaper will write. It could either be a positive or negative story and this (in time) could have an impact on players moral, Chairman or fan relations etc.

As you can imagine phase 2 is quite complicated to develop as there are a lot of scernarios, different questions and answers in relation to the scenario and then there is the story which goes with your response!

At this moment in time nothing has or will be programmed. We are currently in the planning stage and the development phase will only start once we are happy with our plan.

What we do not want is a situation where everyone is approached by the media every single week. We also do not want a situation where the same question is asked and not just to you, but also to all of the other managers within the setup.

Due to this we currently have 57 scenarios which could possibly trigger a media response. We have also decided to create several questions for each scenario to avoid repetition, and for each question there are four possible responses. Then for each response (as mentioned earlier) there will be an automated news story. If you take all of the above into consideration it is a minefield to plan let alone develop!

As I mentioned earlier we are currently at the planning stage. This involves coming up with possible scenarios, and also what will trigger that scenario. We have spent the past few weeks planning this, and are happy with the 57 scenarios (although this could change) that we have and also happy with what will trigger them.

The stage we are now at is the creation of several questions, preset responses, and automated stories which go with each scenario. I am happy to announce that this stage of the planning is underway, but it will take several weeks to complete before it is even ready to handover to the Tech Team for development.

Bookmark this:
Add 'Work In Progress: Setup Newspaper' to Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us Add 'Work In Progress: Setup Newspaper' to digg

digg

Add 'Work In Progress: Setup Newspaper' to reddit

Facebook

Add 'Work In Progress: Setup Newspaper' to Technorati

Technorati Add 'Work In Progress: Setup Newspaper' to Stumble Upon

Stumble Upon

Posted in: Work In Progress

Previous / Next Articles

Messages: AI Auto Picking New Improvements/Features: New Support System

28 Comments Add your own

1. Juan Ruiz | September 13th, 2007 at 1:20 pm

Great work guys, this game keeps getting better and better every day. Don’t know if this has been suggested before …. Negaciations during transfers and or renewing contracts. Perhaps giving the player an agent or just making the renewing of contracts a little more interesting by having the player reject or accept offers.
thanks for this great game
Juan
2. john friel | September 17th, 2007 at 8:26 pm

Well it’s a good idea but will become repetitive unless there are alot more scenarios
3. Ideas & Suggested Imp&hellip | September 28th, 2007 at 6:42 pm

[…] or league position the club(s) are in), income would increase from extra merchandise, the media (Phase 2 of the newspaper) would approach you before/after the match […]
4. gary martin | November 12th, 2007 at 2:24 pm

sm could introduce some one from the setup to work as the journalist instead of th cpu askin the questions, but thinking of it this might be to much,
5. steed malbranque | December 12th, 2007 at 7:07 pm

this could be a great idea im willing ta give it ago
6. David | December 24th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

This would be an amazing idea and it would enhance the games realistic characters
7. mayor | January 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 pm

i just to add that there should be a way headlines of posted messages can go across the screen so other managerscan see it and if they are interseted, they can read the whole story in the newspaper. thanks
8. Jordan | January 18th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

This will be amazing when its finished!! soccer manager is just getting better and better!!!
9. Timmy | February 8th, 2008 at 8:28 pm

When is it gonna be finished cinse it hase been on from sept 2007
10. Malachy Mckenna | February 23rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm

great the game is only getting better i have to applaud sm on their dedication to this website i cannot think of any other game website that is free and improving this rapidly i think u guys are da best web page/game makers on this planet
11. Malachy Mckenna | February 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 pm

definetely headlines shoulld be put on other managers screens as like an advert on the side or something not too annoying but either way this an extensive improvement
12. Amjad Khan | March 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

Hi…This is the Greatest Developement to ever happen on Sm……Keep it up……It brings SM more closer to reality………And this is what the MOTTO of SM has always been……Keep going on…We all here are with you.
13. anus | March 25th, 2008 at 6:30 pm

amazin idea but it will need lots os scenarios
14. Tim | March 31st, 2008 at 5:17 pm

I think this is a great idea.
It would also be good if the players could have player numbers from 1-99 in the squad.
15. Michael aka MAKE BELIEVE | April 7th, 2008 at 7:20 am

u guys r awesome keep up the gd wrk nd if no 1 has suggested dis den mayb u cn let gld members mke lik a champions league in dere own setup, enyway thx for mkin dis gme and for always tryin 2 improve 2 mke it mre realistic thxxxxxx bi

Michael
16. Craig Innes | April 9th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

is there any due dates yet?
17. Adetola | April 27th, 2008 at 1:57 pm

I think it’s a very good idea. I support it as it will improve soccermanager
18. Mohammed ismail | May 6th, 2008 at 5:47 pm

when will this be finished
19. corey poxon | May 31st, 2008 at 12:06 pm

awesome the game just gets better and better
20. Rinoscar | June 14th, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Great Idea!! Depending on your answers, response and reaction from the media, player moral, attendance, merchandise sold should be affected. And maybe if the reaction is negative maybe even the chairman start’s questioning your attitude, he then may start blocking more transfer’s that you initiate.

PS..To all those that ask when will this feature be finishe, it will be finished when it will be finished. Better they take their time to get it right the first time, and not to throw it out there with alot of bug’s.

Thank you
21. Dan C | June 15th, 2008 at 9:16 pm

Great idea. The newspaper is a great idea and it’s left rotting in its current state.
22. MAX HAYDON | June 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

Genius, how do you do it, Soccer Manager is the coolest game in the world i have already got 10 people interested in this game and all of them love it, they never stop playing personally i visit atleast 1’s a day but why stop there 2’s or 3 times a day makes it worth wile. id like to know how you guys behind the scenes arent zillionairs $££££$$$$$££££££ ive played this game for about 3 years or 5 seasons and its a neverending battle, you lose you win you draw but you do it in style well done soccermanager, all the best
23. Matty Whittaker | July 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Awesome idea. Can’t wait for it to be finished.
24. kenny smith | July 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

awesome Can’t wait for it to be finished.
25. Reece Foster | July 11th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

Cracking idea , I’m the only one in my setup that ever writes articles in the newspaper bit haha so this should be a class addition…
26. Matty Whittaker | July 13th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

This has been “Coming soon” for almost a year now =(
27. liam | August 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 pm

good idea
28. robert armstrong | August 4th, 2008 at 9:24 am

you could get a small some of money if you deal with the media in away wich suits your chairman