[It's not very often football/soccer fans have the opportunity to take their love of the game online -- in a whole new way. Sure, we've got our FIFAs and our Football Managers, but as Netsports' Tom Heller explains, there is a huge void where a football-management MMO should be. That's not for too long, though, as the Netsports team is hard at work on Ultimate Football Live, or UFLive for short.

Although it is ways away from release, UFLive has us excited. It is a project that boasts great promise, but that requires a tremendous amount of hard work and determination. So we will monitor it closely, ensuring we keep you up to speed on its development... in the hopes that you're perhaps a fraction as excited as we are. Forgive the lack of screenshots, there really isn't much to show off just yet, but read on to find out the story of how Netsports came to be and what it is trying to do.]

DIYGamer: How did this project come about? Who is working on it?

Netsports Software: All of the members of the UFLive development team previously played Football Manager Live before it closed down. In the days after its demise, Will [Riches, the General Manager -- ed.] posted on the forums that he wanted to get a group together to develop a new game, created by the community. And quite quickly a core of highly enthusiastic developers came forward and began the discussion process. At first a Google group was created, and the game was given the working title ‘Soccer Universe’.

I think it’s fair to say that at first there was a fair bit of scepticism, but as time went by and the public saw progress it became clear that we were serious, and since then we have received great support from the fans, and where possible we have asked for their opinions to help shape UFLive.

The dev team come from a diverse mix of personal backgrounds, but all have in common a love of gaming, football and MMO’s. We all offer something very important to the development, ranging from programming, to feature design, web design, graphic design, project management and company management.

The company we have formed also reflects our community based roots. Netsports Software Ltd, as we are now, is a consortium co-op. Each member of the team has one vote in all important company decisions from the directors down, and we all complete many diverse tasks within the development. We work together and help each other out wherever necessary, be it for content, UI design, or many other things.

What are some inspirations for the game? Are there elements you will draw from FIFA, Football Manager, FIFA Manager, etc.?

We’ve had a close look at all these games to find out what makes them so appealing to the users. Since Football Manager and Football Manager Live in particular is of a very similar genre to us, we’ve really analysed what aspects of these games have worked well and what has let them down. Having said that, we’re aiming to make UF Live a very unique and enthralling gaming experience!

What entails the basic gameplay of the game? In other words, what are you doing most of the time? How is the game set up? Will you be dealing with stats, formations, injuries, etc. and then watching the games in a 2D or 3D plane like in Football Manager? Will you actively participate in the games (e.g. getting to play as the players) or just be calling subs, tactics, and the like?

Although we are designing our own game, and bringing in many unique features and design concepts, there are still, inevitably some commonalities with Football Manager Live – You manage your team as a whole and don’t directly control the players individually during match-play. Most of your game time will involve community interaction:
- Managing your match day squads on and off the field
- Wheeling and dealing for players and staff.
- Taking an active part in the creation of in-game content such as Fanzines, Reportage, kit designs, badge designs, and maybe eventually stadium designs and new game skins.
- Managing club finances and building a whole array of infrastructure.
- Developing youth players from schoolboy age through a comprehensive scouting and development system
- Taking part in International & Inter-Gameworld competitions.
- Interacting with 1000s of other real-life managers from your Gameworld or any other Gameworld, through chat, through playing mini-games, in the live games cinema, and inregular moderator created live quizzes; also through very comprehensive website features and our very own social network.
- We are also developing a huge PvE element in UF Live, with as much mission oriented content as we can.

Is UF Live online only? Will it be subscription based or free-to-play? Will there be social integration through Facebook/Twitter/etc.? Is UF Live playable on any computer like a browser-based experience, or is there a client for download?

UFLive will be online only, and it will be subscription based. We considered a free-to-play model but realised for this type of game, subscription based is the way to go. It was something we discussed in depth though! The main concern with free-to-play (and purchasing add-ons) would mean that wealthier people would have a significant advantage, and also free accounts lead to a lot of other problems associated with this genre. We want an even playing field for everyone who joins the UF Live community, where you actually have to put yourself into the game to get the most out of it.
There definitely will be integration with Facebook and Twitter and hopefully down the line (along with a mobile client), you will be able to play a limited version of UFLive through a Facebook app.
Unlike most other online football management games, UFLive will be client-based rather than browser-based. However we are aiming for some browser integration where users can view and access team and player information from their browser.

Does UF Live use real-life players or are they going to be fictional players or a combination of both?

They will be fictional players, but they will have realistic attributes, personalities and skills. We are trying to model their development as accurately as possible. Some may question whether people would be interested in playing with fictional players, but it was found that fantasy Gameworlds were more popular than real-player ones.

Will all players be assigned to a league or will they choose their league? Since these licenses are likely very expensive to obtain (for Barclays Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and others), how “official” will UF Live get?

We won’t be using any of those real-life leagues as you have mentioned. Managers will be part of Football Associations and within them, leagues. Some leagues will be ofsimilar structure to the Premier League, whereas others may have more interesting formats to cater to the needs of different types of managers.

This is just the tip of the iceberg though really. On top of this we are aiming to have inter-Gameworld chat, matches and tournaments so you will be able to challenge your friends irrespective of where they play. There will be also International Management and we’re discussing the possibility of MMO-like ‘clans’ as well. Lastly, there will also be mini-games and challenges for managers to complete.

Are there elements of a Champions League-like experience where the best of the best will go head to head?

Within a Gameworld there will be Champions League-like tournaments on a seasonal basis where the best of the best will face each other. As mentioned above, we’re aiming for this to occur between Gameworlds as well so we can really find out who the best managers are!

Are you aiming for the game to appeal to casual fans, hardcore fans, or both? How MMO-like is it?

We want to appeal to all users, and to achieve this we are creating a real sense of achievement (and reward) for all league levels, and opening up many features to all managers regardless of how long they have been playing, or how good their team is. These elements will include PvE and full international competitions. We are also adding many MMO type elements into the game. A lot of mission type PvE, and also a progression system similar to leveling with which MMO players will be very familiar. We feel the MMO aspect is key to success in this genre, and massive emphasis on the community. Making players feel like they are part of something much bigger than just a football game. For this reason we intend to eventually integrate personalised avatar elements into the game, with various graphical enhancements; cars/houses/new suit? These types of things are of course in our minds for the future of the game, and are not intended as part of the initial release.

But we will have mini-games, and a clubhouse called ‘The Dugout’ in game from the first release where managers can meet up and chat about the days matches in game or in real life over a drink or two, or play a round of poker for virtual money.

What is your biggest obstacle in the game’s development?

We have a core team who are currently working on UFLive in their spare time, and to say that they have outperformed all expectations would be a massive understatement. But time management is problematic, and the company setup is agile, the devs are from all over the world, and so meetings are very difficult to achieve, and discussions 99% of the time happen on IRC. So we are all becoming very fast typers! And we’ve had to develop our own developmental methodology pretty much from the ground up!

When will we be seeing UF Live in action? Is there a realistic time frame for release?

Well right now we are approaching the beginning of closed Alpha testing. This will be devs only initially, and then a few invited people will join this process as it develops. Then we have the Beta testing when the features are ready for more intensive scrutiny.

Launch will not be hurried. We will only release when we genuinely feel the product is ready. We have no paymasters looking over our shoulders. We will not be forced into a premature release. This is one of the advantages of the way our company is set up.

Would you like to share any observations on the gaming industry? Any words of advice for aspiring developers? Anything at all that you would like to add about UF Live or the world in general?

I would say listen to your customer base! Get them involved, as they know what they want, and I would also say “Don’t hurry a game release. First impressions count a lot!”

Computer games, and the need to immerse yourself in an alternate reality are a reflection of the hard economic climate we live in. We all need to escape every now and then, and what better way to exorcise your frustrations, than by starting your own football team and beating up the virtual world!

Lastly, there are a lot of people willing to offer advice within the industry and there are many helpful people who have some great experience. You should take it all on board but still make your own decisions.

[Netsports UFLive]