patch notes
0.43.0

Gameplay:

New Implementation:

• Implemented a third-person camera view for penalties.
• Introduced increased execution time for shots which are executed backwards.
• Through passes can now be played in the receiver's running direction when conditions are met, which provides more dynamic options from a through pass.
• Introduced a new method to align the character and the ball to improve foot-to-ball contact.
• Introduced aide when intercepting a ball where there is little time before the interception, to avoid interceptions going directly to an opposing player.

Adjustments & Improvements:

• Improved accuracy of crosses for all attribute ranges.
• Tweaks to first time driven passes so they are less accurate than when a player executes a driven pass with the ball under control.
• Improvements to lofted pass trajectories and speeds.
• Improvements to through pass trajectories and speeds.
• Adjusted acceleration, deceleration and turn speeds.
• Lowered composure distance from 5m to 3m and lowered composure accuracy multiplier from 2.5x to 1.7x.
• Added "look at targets" which means characters will now look at the ball when appropriate.
• Improvements to the target location decision making for threaded through passes.
• Tweaked player collisions to be more human-like and less like bumper cars (still in progress).
• Improvements to behaviour when receiving passes. More specifically, players will now move to maintain more momentum when receiving the ball.
• Improvements to slide tackle foul and collision detection.
• Locomotion Transition Improvements.
• Advantages from fouls are now claimed if the fouled team shoots.
• Removed the auto-abort of charge for long range shots to provide more control to the user.

AI Additions & Improvements:

• Added AI Ball Tracking. AI players now visually track the ball during gameplay.
• Added AI Target Pointing. AI players will point towards the target when making a run, providing clearer visual cues for teammates.Added Pass Request Gesture. AI players now lower their arms to signal for a pass, enhancing communication between AI and players.
• Removed unpossession inertia from AI agents to prevent issues with momentum loss and unintended movement direction.
• Fixed an issue where central backs (CBs) and full backs (FBs) would converge on the same spot.

Design Adjustments:

• Increased shooting accuracy slightly for all shot types.
• Increased max shot power for power shot variations.
• Increased max shot power for finesse variations.
• Lowered min. shot power for all shot types to create a bigger difference in shot power based on charge level.
• Increased optimal charge % for short distances for all shot types.
• Adjusted shot power vs amount of curve for curved shots.
• Lowered the distance where shooting accuracy is affected by opponent pressure from 5m to 3m.
• Lowered the max dispersion multiplier based on opponent pressure from 2.5 to 1.7 (opponent pressure now affecting less).
• Movement adjustments to acceleration, deceleration, and turn speeds.
• Reduced AI-players' capability of locking on to the ball when the ball holder is close dribbling or sprint dribbling.
• Separated dispersion for lofted passes and crosses.
• Lowered driven pass max dispersion for short-mid ranges.
• Increased jockey auto-tackle radius from 40cm to 60cm.
• Reduced jockey auto-tackle assistance angle from 90 degrees to 60 degrees.
• Removed all angle-based movement penalties for jockeying.
• Lowered sprint speed range from 700-900 cm/s to 650-840 cm/s.

UI/UX/Audio & Quality of Life:

Challenges:

We’re excited to introduce Challenges, a brand-new feature designed to reward your progress in the game. Challenges are divided into three tiers: Rookie, Contender and Champion, each offering a unique set of tasks that will push your skills to the next level.

Complete challenges like playing Solo & Ranked matches, discarding players and performing specific actions. The more you complete, the greater the rewards.

New Ranked System:

We're testing a new seasonal rank system with this release and are keen to hear what you think!

• New Ranked Points system where you earn points by winning matches.
• Ranked Points only increase as you play, never decrease.
• Progress through 10 ranks during the season and earn increasingly powerful rewards.

For this initial test, we will reset Ranked seasons every week. Skill Rating still remains and is used in Ranked matchmaking, but no longer drives your current rank.

HUD Improvements:

• The HUD has been updated with a new look, the UI for the match state, player state, transition wipe, replay, goal banner, and more!
• HUD runtime stat visuals have been updated.
• Button prompt icons have been updated to look sharper on high resolution screens.
• Updated Ranked screen visuals and added new information.
• Added End of match Rank progress screen.
• Updated currency visuals to use Points.

Audio:

• Improved audio experience when ball hits Goal post audio. Content updated, amount variations are extended.
• Music added when opening Store packs.
• Optimized audio logic to prevent conflicts with background music.
• Implemented volume levelling for a more consistent listening experience.
• Added audio ducking to dynamically adjust volumes based on context.
• Ensured seamless synchronisation of audio with animations.
• Island Arena: Early reflection to reverb was added to imitate realistic propagation of sound in the stadium.

Core:

• Enhanced navigation code with improvements and bug fixes.
• Player Generation System Improvements, including bug fixes, performance enhancements and memory optimizations.
• Improved anti-cheat.
  
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where game crashes occurred on low-end laptops when joining Private matches or Quickplay lobbies.
• Fixed a bug where actions could be executed while the ball was travelling at excessively high speeds.
• Fixed a bug where the rotation of a tackled player was incorrect.
• Fixed a bug where tall players with high jumping ability were unable to trap a ball near their maximum reach.
• Fixed a bug where traps would fail due to collisions occurring during the trapping attempt.
• Fixed a bug where through passes planned the receiver location incorrectly, resulting in poorly executed passes.
• Fixed a bug where actions were delayed when they should have been executed immediately.
• Fixed a bug where the trip animation would play for the duel loser inappropriately; now, characters no longer stumble if the opponent is not close.
• Fixed a bug where auto tackles failed to execute despite meeting all conditions, causing players to run over the ball without engaging it.
• Fixed a bug where the start warning sound (3 seconds before) did not pause when an interruption occurred.
• Fixed a bug where the player name sometimes did not appear above the player indicator during a match.
• Fixed a bug where coming to a complete stop and attempting to move away from the ball would result in the player being pulled back.