NEWS
SaaP 2003 release 3.0 - October 30th 2002
Release 3.0 updates the European leagues, clubs and playing squads up to the start of the European 2002/3 season. There have been a couple of tweaks to the MLS code and some minor bug fixes. The database is now completely up to date and we can now get back to adding new features and improving the existing features.
Secure order/subscribe site fixed! - October 6th 2002
The problem experienced in the secure order site - when credit cards were occasionally rejected incorrectly - has been cured and you can confidently order/subscribe to SaaP/SaaP Online through the secure site as well as the Paypal system.
SaaP 2003 release 2.1 October 6th 2002
Just a couple of bug fixes and a few minor changes suggested by MLS fans who've been giving release 2.0 a going over. The main improvements have been in the module dealing with bringing the squad into line with MLS regulations in the week before the regular season begins. It's much smoother and more intuitive now.
A patch has been uploaded to the members' site and release 2.1 and the update, now on the site, have the patch included.
SaaP 2003 release 2.0 October 1st 2002
It's been a long haul but the MLS has now been included in SaaP. This is a fully featured simulation of the MLS with salary cap, super-draft and waiver draft, dual conferance structure, 28 match season, accurate playoffs, squad limitations (18 regular players including up to 3 Senior Internationals, plus up to four developmental players), correct financial structure and contracts etc.
The club rosters are set to the start of the real-world 2002 season and the game moves from there into the future. New players are introduced into the game via the super-draft (as well as into the World transfer system) - your scouts will give you useful opinions about these before you take part in the draft. Inflation of 3% is included in the game both in player costs and salary cap.
Senior International players can be introduced into the league from the World transfer market. There is a realistic reluctance by some players but under some circumstances you can persuade others to join you and boost your squad's qualities. The salary cap will also come into play as you contemplate introducing these players.
SaaP now includes the full English leagues, Serie A, Bundesliga, Spanish Primera Liga and the American MLS. All leagues are operated simultaneously - there is no need to lock leagues out to avoid game delays - and players from all leagues are available to you if you operate the International module simultaneously with the club module.
Members can download the full game or an upgrade to SaaP 2003 release 1.0 from the SaaP Online members' web site.
SaaP 2003 release 1.0 August 24th 2002
After the most hectic three months of development we now have a release schedule that's giving me headaches just thinking about it. SaaP 2003 will be released in three parts over the next 2 weeks. The three parts will appeal to three different sections of the SaaP Online membership and the third part will complete the updating of data up to the 31st August transfer deadline for all European clubs. The data will then be frozen until the end of the January 2003 transfer window when the trading information is known. A data update will be released at the end of that transfer window.
The first release is aimed at the those members playing SaaP in the English leagues which I think is the largest section of the SaaP Online membership. All the developments that were first tried out in the various preliminary releases (see below) have been included, extended and refined. Some corrections have been made to the interface changes as a result of user feedback. There have been some changes to the transfer market modules, both buying and selling, to address problems reported by users. Selling players in particular will be much quicker than previously and higher value players could well be more willing to join your club.
All the promotion and relegation data from the 01/02 season has been included in the game and the new leagues set up. The club squads as of the end of that season have been updated with all the transfers etc that have taken place during the summer up to the 17th August 2002. This data will be updated to the 31st August in the third release of this series and then frozen until the end of the mid-season transfer window. Of course to take advantage of these updates you'll need to begin a new game and then your new game will start at the beginning of the 2002/3 season.
The game and upgrade (it will upgrade p1.x games to the new release) have already been uploaded to the members' web site and demos are available from the demo page.
SaaP 2003 release p1.2 July 21st 2002
I've introduced changes into release 1.2 which effect significant improvements in the running of the game for higher end PCs. For the majority of SaaP's life the "typical" PC has been one running at a few hundred MHz with a screen setting of 800x600. All design testing has been carried out with such a PC in mind and only limited testing was carried out with higher performance machines. This has meant that the performance of SaaP with these PCs has not been as good as it might with screen output sometimes less than perfect.
But with my web site hit counter now showing that over 40% of PCs are now being used with screen resolutions above the 800x600 setting I decided it was time to bite the bullet and work on improving the performance of SaaP for all resolution settings and PC performance.
Most games produce a common screen output regardless of resolution setting by the dubious method of forcing the resolution to a fixed (usually 800x600) setting from within the program itself. It's not a recommended action and it has some responsibility for compatibility problems with Windows games but it is the easiest way to solve the problem. A much superior way is to detect the screen resolution and provide separate screen output for each setting leaving the PC's parameters set to those decided by the user. Because I didn't wish to upset SaaP's excellent compatibility performance I decided to make the extra effort and design this into release 1.2.
The result is that SaaP 2003 release 1.2 will not only run correctly on anything from a 386, 16 Mbyte, Win 3.1 PC to the latest 2.x Ghz, 512 Mbyte, Win XP machine, but in fact improves the higher up the scale you go. Not only that but this now completes any Windows related developments for the foreseable future allowing developments to concentrate on gameplay improvements for some considerable time to come. Hopefully Microsoft will not make me regret that statement by introducing new problems with the coming XP service pack :>)
SaaP Online members can download an upgrade file that will install over their SaaP 2003 game without affecting their game data but the improvements will be introduced immediately. Also a demo of SaaP 2003 p1.2 has been uploaded to the SaaP Online Demo page and can be downloaded immediately.
SaaP 2003 release p1.1 June 22nd 2002
The changes made in SaaP 2003 have been quite successful and just a few bugs have been found. These have been corrected in release 1.1. The improvements to the player development profiles seem to have been effective and I've taken the ideas a little further in 1.1 and hope that it will effect further improvement.
These changes can be introduced into SaaP 2003 release 1.0 just by installing the upgrade patch and the game continued without affecting the existing data. The new code will come into play immediately.
A demo of SaaP 2003 p1.1 is available from the SaaP Online Demo page.
SaaP 2003 release p1.0 May 20th 2002
Every year at this time I get the opportunity to prove just how immediate Internet distribution proves to be. On Saturday 18th May the promotion from the Spanish Segura Division was finalised. Within 24 hours the promotion and relegation data of the major European leagues was included in SaaP and within another twenty four hours the updated game uploaded to the SaaP Online members' site for members to download. I've called it release p1.0 to indicate that the player data won't be frozen for SaaP 2003 until August when the new season begins (play in SaaP 2003 begins in August 2002). Over the next few months there will be numerous transfers throughout Europe and these will be introduced with data updates over the next 3 months.
In addition to the updated leagues etc. I've made significant changes to the way in which players' skills improve and then fade throughout all teams. There is a tendancy in smgs for the player skills to even out after many seasons which produces an uninteresting transfer market and flat leagues when that occurs. The new development algorythms have been designed to cure that and provide a more realistic progress with a realistic mix of players throughout the leagues well into the third millenium.
A demo of SaaP 2003 p1.0 is being produced and will be announced here when it's available.
SaaP 2002 release 2.2 February 25th 2002
This is the final version of release 2 of SaaP 2002. There are a number of bug fixes, a few interface changes etc to put the final touches to this release. There was a major problem for some teams in Serie A and the Bundesliga but that has been fixed and it's now safe to manage Juventus/Hansa Rostock for our Italian/German members.
I've also changed the numbering system from SaaP 200x release y.zw which had a redundant number to SaaP 200x release y.z so that the previous release is now 2.1 and this new on 2.2. The first number refers to the latest upgrade and the second to the latest bug fix. The SaaP 200x will change when the start season changes from the 0x/0x+1 to 0x+1/0x+2 - 01/02 season start game is 2002 the 02/03 season start will be 2003 and so on.
The full game and an upgrade to change all 2002 releases to the latest release are available on the members' web site.
SaaP 2002 release 2.01 January 15 2002
Nothing very major here. Just a couple of bug fixes to release 2.00. One concerned the conditions of entry to European Cups and the second modifying the opposition club morale figures in European competitions. The fix can be added without affecting a current game.
SaaP 2002 release 2.00 December 12th 2001
Looking for a better solution to the Windows XP compatibility problem caused me to turn to another compilation system to replace the shell solution that I first came up with. The result was very impressive with a compilation of SaaP that runs 60% faster than the release 1.10 and with a file size around 10% smaller - good for download times. This compilation has now been tested out on all variations of Windows and is just as compatible as the earlier system as well as running well on XP. I'm now using this new compilation for release 2.00 and all new releases for the foreseeable future.
I've introduced into release 2.00 some developments that I've been working on for some time now - an expansion of the dressing room team talks, linking the players' responses much more closely to their temperaments, and a development of the youth squad system, giving the manager much more control over the development of youth players, and introducing similar youth schemes into ALL clubs in the database. All clubs, including your own, take in 16 year old players, develop them and promote, release or transfer list the older ones each season. These players are also available on the transfer market and are usually less picky when it comes to approaches from smaller clubs - the "you're not big enough for me" response is less likely than from older more established players.
This all gives the gamer-manager a much greater choice of young players and greater control over their development allowing the lesser clubs to compete with the bigger ones by developing their own quality players through their youth system. It also fills out the rosters of all other clubs and introduces a dynamic element to their playing squads as you move through the seasons.
SaaP 2002 release 1.10 November 23rd 2001
I've continued the expansion of the database and added the Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga and Spanish Primera Liga to the range of leagues available to the SaaP gamer. You can begin your career in these leagues in three of the four game modes (not, obviously, in the "Internetional Only" mode though the clubs and players are available for selection for the Italian, German and Spanish squads). In addition you can also be offered a management position in any of these leagues as a result of a good performance in another league. In the progressive mode you can begin in the English 3rd Division, move through the leagues, on to a major Italian/German/Spanish club and eventually be offered the national squad of your current league.
One major criticism of international games - having little information about players before bringing them into the national squad - has been addressed with opinions from an assistant coach on any player you look at prior to introducing him into the squad. He will comment on each individual skill for each player.
In addition he will give you his opinion on which are the best six players on current form in any position you wish (left backs, central midfielders etc). Ask for his best six central strikers for example and he will list his choice from the entire database, describe their skills and inform you which clubs they play in. This helps you avoid introducing off-form players because of real-world reputation.
I've also developed a version of SaaP suitable for Windows XP. SaaP can now be run on Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. If asking for a demo or joining SaaP Online, let us know you have XP.
SaaP 2002 release 1.05 September 22nd 2001
The database expansion for SaaP 2002 has been a tremendous success. Despite the enormous changes the bugs introduced have been few and minor. Users are happily working their way up the leagues, or not as the case may be, eventually aiming for combined Premiership and International management. Today Division 3, tomorrow the Premiership and after that the Premiership and World Cup double.
The expansion though has brought with it one problem which I've addressed with release 1.05. To play SaaP well, it's necessary to build up an understanding of the players' qualities so that informed decisions can be made about team selection, tactics, transfer deals etc. With the well known players from the Premiership and European leagues this is relatively easy. But with the unknown players from the lower division it can be a major problem. Easier access to information is needed.
So, in release 1.05, I've added some further information screens to help the gamer-manager work with his players until he's built up a good understanding of their qualities. There's a squad screen that will give relevant details of all players in the senior squad. This can be observed on screen, printed out or printed to file - printing to file takes place with sequential files by season and week number so that gamer-manager can build up a history of his squad as the weeks and seasons pass.
In addition there's been a considerable improvement to the assistant coach's opinion screen about the relative qualities of players. The 6 comparisons (including fitness and confidence) have been collected together into one area which, again, can be viewed on screen, printed out or printed to file. Again this last is done sequentially allowing the change in skills to be observed as players improve or fade.
Similar improvements have been made to the league tables to allow a complete history of your performance to be held and printed. The print to file options together will allow the history of a game to be taken and studied away from the computer.
Release 1.05 also contains several bug fixes and improvements to the interface to make things easier and less confusing, particularly for beginners. It installs over any earlier release of SaaP 2002 without upsetting the data allowing gamers to continue their current game with no glitches.
SaaP 2002 released August 28th 2001
This is the big upgrade. Without question the developments in SaaP 2002 are the most important and extensive since SaaP was converted for Windows 3 years ago.
Since setting up SaaP Online on the Internet the userbase for SaaP has become more and more global. Because of this, I've felt the need to develop the game so that soccer fans around the world can manage a club in a league setting of their own choosing. This has meant a complete redesign of the database to allow the easy introduction of different league structures and customised leagues.
In SaaP 2002 I've used the expanded database to remove a perceived limitation of SaaP and provide options to manage any club in the English league in the appropriate league with full promotion and relegation. I've retained the club only, international only, simultaneous club and international options and added the "progressive" option that leads from Division 3 through to full simultaneous Premiership and International management.
With the next expansion being a full simulation of the American MLS and the CONCACAF environments I've moved halfway to this expansion by including the full range of MLS clubs and the USA national squad. These can now be managed by USA gamers and entered into the English leagues and World Cup football (via Europe) with a couple of clicks of a mouse button. It's a temporary setup until release 1.10 but hopefully it will give more entertainment to USA users than currently having to manage European clubs. Find out how DC United et al perform in the English league :>)
With the expansion and design of the new database structure I've upgraded all the club squads used in the game. The game starts at the beginning of the 2001-2002 European season with appropriate squads througout (the MLS squads are taken from mid-season of the 2001 season).
SICK AS A PARROT 2001 release 1.05 - April 9th 2001
In SaaP, the match is an important source of information about your players' skills. In release 1.05, we've increased the information provided during a match significantly by including a feature to select any player and display his passing, tackling and shooting statistics dynamically as the game progresses. This is an objective count which supplements the subjective, weighted display of players' performances already displayed.
The in-match tactical changes have often caused confusion for some gamers so we've replaced it with a bootroom style formation display which is much easier to understand and operate. There's no excuse now for not responding to the opposition manager's tactical changes which have been causing gamers many problems. This new feature makes tactical selection much more intuitive and allows the gamer manager to introduce more sophisticated tactical moves that enhance his chances of "getting a result".
One of the most intense moments in the soccer world is surely the penalty shootout. The lack of atmosphere that plagues the soccer management game match simulations is most clearly seen in the shootout. In 1.05 we've expanded the penalty shootout animations introduced in release 1.00 with much more management involvement - including the selection of your penalty takers and emotional players who will be very reluctant to take penalties. The tension of the shootout has been enhanced significantly by these changes.
A number of bugs that crept into release 1.00 have ben removed.
SICK AS A PARROT 2001 release 1.00 - February 19th 2001
Here's the first release of SaaP 2001. In the next 12 months I'll be working on the developments that have been started in this new release. There are four areas of development:
1) A match that is genuinely interesting to watch. I've started in release 1.00 with animations of the shots on goal. Although I've kept the verbal commentary for atmosphere, the action on the field of play is shown on the centre screen, 3 D, match flow display. A shot flies through the air, there's an easy save or spectacular save, the ball flies high and wide, rebounds from the woodwork or a goal is scored.
2) Expansion of player psychology detail to produce a greater feel of reality in the relationship with players. In 1.10 I've added "temperament" to a player's definition. This affects his reaction to your treatment of him and the talks that you have with him. A hothead will storm away from criticism and lap up flattery. A stoical player player will shrug of criticism and ignore flattery etc. There are four categories of temperament - hot headed, emotional, reasonable and stoical. Your influence on a player's confidence is enhanced if you deal with his temperament well.
3) Expansion of the club structure to allow gamers to manage in their own favourite real or fictitious league setting. In release 1.00 I've updated all the Premiership data to this last weekend (February 18th 2001). This prepares the database for the first league upgrades in 1.10 currently being worked on.
4) The introduction of features suggested by users on the message board and in emails. In 2001 release 1.00 I've made significant improvements to the financial side of things. These include sophisticated stadium development features based on your success, improved boardroom control over spending and transfer deals, potential signings making decisions about joining your club based on your size, success and potential, improved gate money features, TV income, sponsership income, trophy bonuses etc.
5) Major expansions to the transfer system. With FIFA and UEFA battling it out with the EC and FIFPro I've left this alone in 1.00 until we know the outcome. It's beginning to look as if the transfer system may be doomed and a wages free-for-all taking its place. I will replicate whatever comes out of this as soon as I know what it is.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.54 - January 23rd 2001
There's a battle royal going on between game-players who've discovered the wonders of the tactical control in SaaP and the AI determining the opposition managers' tactics :) Each time the AI is improved some users see it as a challenge to find tactics to cancel it out. In 1.54 I've introduced new tactical choices by opposition managers and reacted to some of the tactics being reported by users.
The message board has come alive with members' wish lists for future releases of SaaP. Some of these refer to interface improvements and have been introduced into 1.54 - in fact 1.52, 1.53 and 1.54. Further skip options have been introduced to allow the gamer to control the speed of his game and changes to the menu system have improved the return from transfer actions, talking to players, coaches or scouts and info screens.
Release 1.54 itself has removed a bug in the passing routines in the match which had increased the pass backs to fullbacks and wingbacks when forward players found themselves crowded out by defenders. A perfectly legitimate tactic, of course, but fullbacks and wingbacks were pumping high balls into the opponents penalty area just a little too often. But it has given me some ideas about introducing "route one" football tactics into the game :)
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.51 - January 9th 2001
Release 1.51 illustrates how the immediacy and interactivity of the Internet brings significant advantages to software distribution. Release 1.51 is an update of SaaP 2000 release 1.50. It fixes an obscure bug that had been missed by testers but reported by users. It occurs only in unusual circumstances but when sufficient gamers are playing it those circumstances are more easily spotted.
When it does occur the bug does spoil the game for users and so I felt it necessary to fix it now rather than leave it until the release of SaaP 2001. In addition I've modified the wage restrictions on the signing of transfer players on a "free" in line with the comments from users on the message board.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.50 - December 27th 2000
Release 1.50 is the last of the SaaP 2000 series. The next release, early in the new year, will be titled SaaP 2001 v 1.00 and a new series will begin.
1.50 continues the development of the AI determining the tactics of opposition managers. A number of extreme tactics - some you would never see in the real world - have been developed by gamers to overcome the increasingly sophisticated tactics of the opposition managers. Some exploit loopholes, some are genuinely innovative. The AI has therefore been refined considerably to remove the loopholes and come up with counter tactics to deal with the more imaginative moves.
Because 1.50 is the last in the SaaP 2000 series I've blitzed the code to remove a number of minor bugs. Some of these have recently crept in, some have been there for some time but have not been obvious. SaaP 2000 v 1.50 is probably the cleanest version of SaaP ever released :) I hope that 1.50 will be a fitting end to this series.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.40 - December 11th 2000
The improved opposition manager tactics introduced into releases 1.20 and 1.30 have triggered a frenzy of new tactical methods from users. This has put even more pressure on the tactics AI to counter all these new ideas.
In 1.40 the AI defining the opposition tactics has been further developed. It opens up the play, develops wing play as a counter to packed midfields and generally responds more intelligently to gamer-manager tactical decisions.
Members have been encouraged to feed back information about their tactics and their effectiveness and further developments of the AI are expected as 1.4x over the next few weeks.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.36 - November 14th 2000
3 weeks ago Microsoft brought out its new Windows ME release. SaaP, like many other applications programs suddenly acquired compatability problems. They have been fixed in release 1.36. In fact the modifications also enable SaaP to run on Windows NT and Windows 2000 as well as 3.1, 95, 98 and ME.
Not wanting to release a new version just for this, I decided to introduce a number of changes that had been intended for release 1.40. The interface changes from 1.35 (see below) have been very well received and so I extended them considerably for this latest release. 46 changes to make navigation simpler, faster and more intuitive have been added.
A new player data section has been created around the player performance screen described in 1.35. Similar screens have been added for contracts and training and the three brought together in one "player info" section for ease of understanding, comparison and changes in player characteristics. The training screen also allows easy setting of the individual training features, including bulk setting for defenders, midfielders etc, and allows the development of players to be easily controlled and monitored.
There have also been developments in the financial aspects of the game, particularly regarding "free" transfers, and in the opposition AI in combatting the tendancy of managers to pack central midfield. The changes in the real world first to 3 man central defences with wingbacks and then back to flexible 4-4-2 formations have been reflected in these changes. Opposition managers will often use flexible 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 formations in the same match if it suits them.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.35 - October 6th 2000
I've paused development in 1.35 to deal with a number of requests from users of the game. The changes introduced in this revision are aimed at making the game more intuitive and giving the user options to control the speed of progress through the season. Two of the interface changes are aimed at gamers who have played smgs for some time and come to SaaP having considerable experience of the traditional games. With these changes, coming to terms with the greater demands of SaaP, is made easier.
Perhaps the most important screen in the traditional game is the one that shows lists of players, skills and skill numbers. These lists make life realtively easy when it comes to comparing the qualities of players.
In SaaP there are no numbers and no such lists - the gamer must handle the comparative skills of players in his own head in subjective terms as the real-world manager does. This is such a change from the traditional game that many gamers find it very difficult.
This screen will allow you to compare the match performances of your players. It will also help you determine the change of performance of a particular player by comparing his current season performances with his career averages and his later performances with the season's average. You can therfore not only compare players but also how a player's form has changed. This screen is available at the club stats summary screen, the daily news screens and when making changes at team selection time.
SaaP creates a lot of information about transfer market action in the leagues in general. The daily news screens report these actions. It also produces much training feedback to help you determine the form of players. There are also timing delays throughout the week to produce a rhythm that matches that of the real-world week. But all this can be overwhelming when you first begin a game of SaaP.
I've therefore introduced what I call "skip options" which you can set to control the amount of information display throughout the week. This helps considerably if you're new to the game to get into the swing of the game without being overloaded with information. Even when you have considerable experience in the game, then you sometimes like move though the season at a quicker pace than usual. These skip options allow you to do this without removing the transfer actions and training actions from the game itself.
There are number of other interface changes to help make the game flow much more easily pause buttons, tactics buttons and so on that make user input in SaaP easier of more intutitive.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.30 - August 30th 2000
The development of the Artificial Intelligence system designed to improve the match has been continued from release 1.20 into this new release. This time I've been working on the players.
When a player attempts to pass the ball, he will make an intelligent assessment of the best pass to make. He checks each player available to him, looks at his performance so far and looks at the opposition players covering him. He compares the various options and decides on the comparitive merit of each of the options. He then biases his passing decisions in favour of the best options.
The quality of the passing has visably improved and the shots on goal have increased by up to 30%.
There is a fatigue penalty to be paid if you change formations too often depending on the ground each player has to cover to take up his new position. Players who don't change position will not suffer but players who move from one end of the pitch to the other (eg a wingback from defence to attack) will suffer considerably.
The more often you use these changes the greater the effect - four or five changes a match will not have a significant effect but beyond that the fatigue builds quite quickly.
I've also begun the match animation improvements with a couple of minor changes - goalkicks and goalkeeper clearances - to improve the rhythm of the game. The rest in 1.40.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.20 - June 16th 2000
SaaP 2000 release 1.20 includes the first of the developments that we've been promising for some time now. For too long the opposition team managers in all smgs have been random and unintelligent. With SaaP 2000 1.20 that situation has been rectified with the introduction of an AI system that will both surprise and delight the gamer manager.
Each club manager has been given a tendancy - conservative, pragmatic or adventurous - which dictates his tactical improvisations. It begins with his ambitions for the match which will determine his intial player selection and formation.
During the game he will review these tactics as the various effects - score, player performance, player fatigue, required result - come into play. He will vary his formation, attempt to control the pace of the game and use substitutions to replace his own poorly performing or fatigued players, attack your own weaknesses or support and reinforce those areas where his team is ahead.
This is just the start of a significant change in the quality of realism in the soccer management game - a match which is interesting and impressive to watch and yet realistic in its depiction of the game. Check back for further news as this process takes the smg to new heights :>)
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.15 - May 29th 2000
If you ever wanted proof of the immediacy of the Internet then this is it. SaaP 1.15 is being released and distributed just a few hours after the completion of the English Premier League season has finished. It contains all the data necessary to enable a start in the new 2000/2001 season. The upgrade to SaaP 2000 release 1.11 and the complete game are already available on the SaaP Online members' web site.
SICK AS A PARROT 2000 CD - May 2000
While distribution online is an enormous advantage for those happy with web surfing and downloading of files, there are still many people who prefer to make purchases offline and have a hard copy of their games on CD. SaaP 2000 is now available from Webscene in the UK and Wizard Games in the USA on a cdrom. Click here for details about the offline addresses, phone and fax numbers of these agents.
SICK AS A PARROT 2000 release 1.1 - Feb 2000
The CDROM version of SaaP 2000 is being finalised. SaaP 1.1 is the release that gives the SaaP Online members all the features of the CDROM by downloading the various files as they see fit.
The interface has been improved to make it easier to use and more intuitive. Hooks have been introduced into the exes so that the various backdrop files will be included in the game if the files are installed in a "pictures" folder but the game will play perfectly well with the default backdrops if they're not there. The backdrops will be made available for download from the SaaP web site.
The opening screen allows the user to select from three options: the full range of backdrops, a shaded blue backdrop and a plain program generated backdrop. This last is suitable for PCs with restricted resources (386/486 processors, 16/256 colour screens, 4 Mbytes of RAM).
Game improvements have mainly been introduced into the international module which has been neglected recently. The number of players has been increased to 100 recorded players. Information about the players has been extended with the best training session reporting ever used in any previous game (so much so that it has now been added to the league module as well).
The FIFA international ratings have been introduced and the qualities of the teams closely follows these ratings. This leads to much more realistic results and finals competitions comparing well with the real world results.
The links between the club and international modules have been tightened so that the players' club performances are more closely reflected in their performances in the international teams. The "John Barnes" factor has been reduced in importance (introduced when the international module was stand alone) and it is much safer now to rely on the club performances in selecting your international squad.
The result of all this is to make the international module a little more predictable though there are still some surprises in there to keep the manager on his toes. The international module is still the most difficult smg ever released :>)
SICK AS A PARROT 2000 - Nov 1st 1999
In SaaP 2000 we've introduced all the features developed over the last 18 months that have met approval from our users. To provide a reliable display of all graphic and text output across a complete spectrum of Windows versions and configurations, we have introduced new coding and colour definitions. The game can now be run on a 500 MHz Pentium lll/Windows 98, 32 bit colour, 1600x1200 pixel screen PC right down to a 386/Windows 3.1, 256 colour, 640x480 pixel screen machine with no loss of performance.
Along with the new coding, many improvements have been made to the general layout of the game and all coding and presentational improvements carried across to the international module that had suffered from lack of attention up to this point.
The idea behind these developments is to produce a match that's worth watching not only for the information it gives you about players but also as an interesting and entertaining display. The match is the culmination of all your training, selection and tactical efforts and needs to be much better than currently appears in smgs.
The latest developments in SaaP are designed to reinstate the match as the most important part of the game. The whole week builds up to this and so often it's a disappointment. We aim to put that right and in SaaP 2000 we've taken the first step.
SaaP 2000 is now the complete conversion of Supremo 99 to the Windows environment. The limitations of DOS have now been completely eliminated, many features have been expanded and many others added. This game will now be the basis for a new offline CDROM game that many of you have been asking for for some time.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.7 - Sept 10th 1999
Release 1.7 has a number of developments to expand the database and increase the realistic feeling of the game through the manager's week. All European teams have now been expanded to include full senior, reserve and youth squads. Players retire and new young players are introduced each season and all league clubs become involved in a sophisticated transfer market. Buying of players is based on an analysis of the playing strengths of the club squad including any losses due to players leaving or retiring.
The progress through the week has been developed to mimic the real-world manager's week. There's daily news from the clubs and daily training sessions. The manager defines the type of training and there is a report of the performance of all the training players. This incorporates their skills relevant to this training, their form, fitness, confidence etc.
I've introduced a pre-season and training routine which will allow the manager to prepare his players for the new competitive games. The Charity Shield is included for appropriate teams as is the opportunity to check out your newly promoted youth players.
A new player selling routine has been introduced which allows complicated negotiations over several weeks if necessary.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.6
Release 1.6 completes the conversion of Supremo to Windows. The player database has been completely overhauled and expanded. The players in opposition teams have been given the same player development system as the users own team. Opposition teams have been given complete first, reserve and youth teams squads and older players retire, youth players are promoted and new youth players generated.
The promotion and relegation results of the 1998/99 season have been included and the club and player data updated to the beginning of the 1999/2000 season. A new edit program will allow easy modification of team and player data to keep up with the real world and a quick method added to transfer a player from one team to another.
New daily training routines have been introduced in the league module similar to those in the international module. The manager can define each day's training individually. This is used to prepare the team for the next match. The training sessions will also inform the manager which players are playing well. This information takes account of the type of training, the skills, the fitness and the confidence of players.
A number of data slots and software "hooks" (effectively software expansion slots) have been included to allow further development of the game without requiring that users begin a new game when new features are added. Because of the slog to implement the changes in SAAP 1.6 new developments will come much more easily and quickly.
New code has been introduced to make the program less vulnerable to interference from other programs and the problem some users had with mouse clicks has been eliminated.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.5
In release 1.5 the programs detect the screen resolution of a particular setup and apply a muliplier to compensate. The screen output for release 1.5 will appear exactly the same regardless of the setting. The game screen will always be a full screen display. There is no need to make any adjustments.
The second series of developments are aimed at giving the manager much more control over the performance of players, their confidence and commitment. The club captain will now inform the manager of the morale of players. The club assistant scout will watch opposition teams and report to the manager in the days before the match and to the players in the bootroom discussion about match tactics.
There's also now dressing room pep talks to fire up the players before a session of play - before the match, at half time and at pitch side before exta time. The manager has a range of encouragement for the team and individual players. He must, of course, take note of the particular player he's talking to and use the sort of approach that best suits that player.
The manager can also work to improve the confidence of a player who is down by playing him in the reserve team and building him up for a return to the first team.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.4
Release 1.40 is a major step forward in the development of SAAP. The innovative management idea at the core of the game requires a wide range of coaching and scouting inputs to your knowledge of the players. Release 4 contains numerous improvements to do this.
The coaching staff has now been increased to 5 - assistant, reserve, youth, fitness and goalkeeping coaches. Each has his own unique tasks and will keep you informed of the players under his charge and take control of their development.
The scouting staff has been increased to 4 - chief, assistant, youth and goalkeeping scouts. They will find players for you from within the 2000 odd player database. In addition the youth scout will assemble a range of new youth players to select from to fill the places opened up when you promote or release the older youth players (with the help of your youth coach) at the end of a season.
There have also been a number of improvements to screens, presentation and the timing of the game to increase the overall feeling of carrying out the actions of a real-world manager.
The game has taken a big leap forward with release 1.4.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.27
Here I've created an action shot of Ryan Giggs (available for members to download on the members' web site). Care has been taken with the text displays to ensure that it is legible regardless of the chosen backdrop.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.26
I've given the game a face-lift. There are new multiple fonts and new graphic elements added to further improve the overall presentation of the game. It is now possible to select different backdrops and the gamer can even add his own favourite action shot as a background to the game. The game detects whether Windows 3.1, Win 95, Win 98 or Win NT is on the host PC and introduces code to match the game to the OS.
SICK AS A PARROT release 1.20
With this release Sick As A Parrot moves well beyond Supremo 99. A management "career" feature has been added. On taking on a club you are given managerial goals (depending on the quality of the club). If you perform badly then you may well face the sack but will be offered a post at another, lesser, club. If you perform well you could receive an offer from a bigger club. Your own club may make a counter offer and it's up to you whether you move or stay. The game will track your career and keep a record of your league, cup performances and your salary and bonus payments etc.
Self extracting, self installing zip files
All files on the members' page and the two demos are now self extracting, self installing zip files. Just double click on the downloaded file and input your own folder. The file will do the rest.
SICK AS A PARROT for Windows release 1.10
Release 1.10 of Sick As A Parrot for Windows has been posted on the members' web page. This has all the features of release 1.05 but now has the EDIT club data, EDIT international data and CUSTOMise club data programs added. A few cosmetic changes have also been made.
SICK AS A PARROT for Windows release 1.05
Release 1.05 of Sick As A Parrot for Windows has been posted on the members' web page. This fixes a couple of bugs in release 1.00 - notably the one which prevents you selecting players from your own club in certain circumstances. Injuries through the close season now have 10 weeks recovery time applied and a couple of colour faults have been eliminated.
SICK AS A PARROT for Windows
The conversion of Supremo 99 to a Windows environment has been completed. The league game, the international game and the integration software are now available in one SAAP package. The full game has now been posted on the SAAP OnLine members' page.
SUPREMO 99 for DOS.
Supremo 98 has been updated to include the changes to the English leagues as a result of the promotion and relegation at the end of the 1997/98 season. In Supremo 99 the season now begins with the 1998/99 season and teams and the quality of teams reflects the abilities of teams and the players at the end of the 1997/98 season.
The game has been posted on the SAAP On Line members page and is also available from myself, Lambourne Games in the UK and Wizard Games in the USA. See the order page for details.
SAAP for Windows - International.
The international half of Supremo 99 has now been converted to the Windows environment. The game is essentially the same for the moment but has had some aesthetic improvements and a number of changes to simplify the interface. All possible selections on a screen now have buttons to make them stand out for example. On some screens the selection process has been simplified and the number of point-and-click operations has been reduced.
The features added to Supremo 98 release 1.400 have proved very popular and so players in S99 can be defined by the gamer himself as well as importing them from league teams thus allowing the gamer to select any one of the 55 international squads without running out of players.
The game has been posted on the members page for download and comment.
SAAP for Windows - Improvements to match controls.
The mouse controls during the match were slow and imprecise. The code has been redesigned to produce a fast, accurate input for tactical changes and a simpler control of the display speed.
Update of Premier League Teams and Players - 14th April 1998
The original version of Supremo 98 has the players from the start of the 1997/98 season. I've now included a zipped file in the members section that will update the players and team performances to April 1998. This means that the teams will take account of the transfers up to April 1998 and the opposition teams will perform approximately as they do around that time. If you select a real-world Premier club with real world players and the "replay" mode then your first squad will be made up of the players included in that club at the start of April 1998.
Sick As A Parrot for Windows release 1.00 - 2nd April 1998
The first version of Sick As A Parrot for Windows has been completed and is available for download on the members' page.
Supremo 98 upgrade to release 1.40 - 2nd April 1998
A zipped file of the patch upgrading earlier releases of Supremo 98 to release 1.40 (including the three modifications to allow all international squads to be managed) has been added to the members page.
Supremo 98 release 1.40 - Default International Squads added - 20th March 1998
It can be a bit of a pain naming your first international squad of 21 players. With release 1.40 a number of default international squads have been included. The first squad can now be called up (it's shown as the last squad of your predecessor) with a single click and then your own changes made. When you choose to define your own squad from scratch you have an option to save this squad so that it can be used the next time you begin a new computer game (your previous squads are, of course, carried over from one match to the next in any one computer game).
Currently, default squads are included for England, Scotland, Italy, Brazil, USA and Australia. Others are being added and will be included in the SAAP On Line members page for upgrading S98 (if you have purchased S98 then email me about upgrading your purchase to SAAP On Line membership at no extra cost).
Supremo 98 release 1.30 - Define your own players - 15th March 1998
Managing any international squad other than England (the league database is based on the English leagues) can pose a problem with an adequate choice of players. With this release the gamer is given a choice of taking a player from a league club or defining his own player from scratch when he names his international squad. This means any national squad can be managed without editing the league database to artificially include suitable players.
Supremo 98 release 1.20 - Manage any International Squad - 1st March 1998
I've received a number of requests to expand the choice of international squads to include all the squads available in the game. In particular I've had requests to include the USA and Australian squads. The gamer can now choose to manage any of the 55 international squads either independantly or simultaneously with managing a league club. Australians can do what they won't allow Terry Venables to do - manage an English Premier League club and the Socceroos simultaneously :>)
Supremo 98 release 1.10 - Including 3D Match - 20th September 1997
A new match simulation has been added to the 2D display to further improve the feeling of realism to the game. The new display has a 3D perspective.
The 2D display is still available to those who prefer it just by clicking on the appropriate box prior to the match. The 2D display in Supremo 98 has also been improved in comparison with the previous Supremo 97 display.
The screen on the left is a scaled down version of the actual screen. This is a quarter size display. A fuller description can be read
of the match on another page.
Release of Supremo 98
Supremo 98 is released with all the features of Supremo 97 and improved 2D graphics for both league and international matches. The player and team data for the Sick As A Parrot game has been updated to the start of the 1997/98 season.
What SaaP does have, however, is a great deal of feedback from the match simulation which is very useful for comparison of players. In 1.35 I've increased this and produced a comparison screen of player career and current season stats - matches, goals, man-of-the-match awards and average ratings for performance. I've added to that the last 6 match ratings. The picture here illustrates that screen.
The tactical options used by the opposition managers are now available to the gamer manager at the click of a button. The match screen here shows the increased tactical option buttons across the bottom of the screen. Formation changes are defined at the bootroom stage and can be introduced with a single click as the match progresses. The formation changes can also be combined with the pace changes - see the double width lower buttons.
We've long promised developments to the match. In SaaP 2000 we've begun those. On the left here is a thumbnail of the new match screen.
There are two major developments in release 1.50 of Sick As A Parrot. The first deals with the problem of several different screen resolution settings in Windows setups. SAAP 1.4 and previous games were written to be played with a standard VGA screen. Unfortunately this resulted in screens with greater resolutions displaying a window which was only a part of the screen. The best display was achieved by setting the resolution to a VGA setting - a bit of a pain with some PCs.
With release 1.27 we have introduced the option to introduce your own backdrop to the game. This can be something you've created with a paint or graphics program or something you've downloaded from the web.
