THE MATCH SIMULATION
The match in SaaP is much more important than in the traditional numbers management game. It's not only the place where all your transfer, training and tactical decisions are put to a final test but also the best source of information about your players' abilities. For that reason it's been designed to give you a whole range of information that will help you understand why the match has gone the way it has, which players have played well and so on.
You can see from the screen shot shown here that the match screen is quite complex and has a number of areas from which information can be extracted and tactical control implemented.
Although this information could be shown in an easier 2D display, earlier versions of SaaP had such a display, we have produced this 3D effect because it gives a greater "feel" that you're seeing a football match unfold. Goal attempts are shown with the ball flying through the air, goalkeepers springing across to save, the ball bulging the net, rebounding from the post, flying over the top etc. It all adds atmosphere to the game by producing a little bit of suspense. In 1996 we allowed users a choice of 2D and 3D displays and almost univerally they chose the 3D display after playing them both. So the 2D display was dropped and this display developed considerably since then.
Down either side of the screen are the players of the two teams. Beneath each player are two bargraphs. The first (in red) shows the state of fatigue of each player which increases, of course, as the game proceeds. The second (in white) shows the performance of the player up to that point in the game. Each time a player does something good his performance graph increases, each time he makes a mistake it decreases. It gives you a continuous indication of the overall performance of each player.
Immediately below the match flow display is a text box which displays the name of the player on the ball (as in the upper match screen). This box also displays the messages that tell you about injuries, disciplinary events, goals, penalties etc. and commentary on goal attempts.
Below this (the horizontal bars) are the possession statistics and shots-on-goal displays. This shows a percentage breakdown of the game so far in a graphical form to help you assess the relative performance of the three sections of your team (defence, midfield and attack). The top bar is the overall possession stats.
This display can be changed to display the performance of any player by clicking on his name in one of the lists. The possession stats are then replaced with a breakdown of that players passing, tackling and shooting stats. This includes the number of passes etc made and the success rate. These are continuously upgraded as the game proceeds and you can monitor a player's performance through the whole game or look around at several players in sequence. If a perfromance bargraph (in the player lists) shows a particular player is performing particular exceptionally (good or bad) then this display will expand on that information for you and may lead you to make tactical changes in reaction.
The final section, across the bottom of the screen, are the in-match tactical buttons and match speed controls. Any of these can be selected at any time during a match. You can bring in the different formations set up in the bootroom teamtalk, make substitutions, move individual players around to change the shape of your team and/or give instructions to your players to change the pace of the game. There are also game speed controls will adjust the speed at which the game unfolds and a pause button if you need it.
All the changes are immediately entered into the match simulation model and this will respond directly to the changes. The match flow display and player lists will immediately show the changes. The opposition managers in SaaP now make some very sophisticated tactical changes but they're there for you to see and the means are there for you to respond.
Throughout the match these displays will tell you exactly why the game is going the way it is. In my match against France, the possession stats show that I'm managing to outplay the French team in midfield with Beckham and McManaman dominating but my attack is being well held in check by a competent French defence supported well by Barthez the French 'keeper. This is shown by the player performance graphs - the entire French defence is playing very well but their strikers Henry and Anelka have yet to get into the game. Paul Scholes scored in the 27th minute to give me a one nil lead. But the second half is proving a different game and the French are beginning to have more possession and have just been close to scoring. Henry in particular picked up his game and he equalised in the 82 minute and robbed me of 2 qualifying points.
The match is a very sophisticated simulation of the real thing so, in the end, you get the result your choices deserve and the match display will tell you why. The simulation gives you the tools to influence the match and show you why the result went the way it did. The results are not predetermined, they're not "hard wired" logic, they are a reflection of the team you have built up, the skills you've instilled into your players through training and finally the quality of your tactical knowhow.
In the centre of the screen you can see what I call the "match flow" display. This is not attempt to produce high qualty 3D graphics, that's still a few years down the track when technology is a lot more capable. But it gives you, at a glance, the formations used by the two managers, where play is taking place, which players are involved, some indication of what might be expected to happen next and illustrates graphically any tactical positional changes that you or the opposition manager might make. They say "a picture is worth a thousand words" and this simple display illustrates this by telling you much more than any reasonable text commentary could ever tell you.