Head Up Display (HUD) - the score, player names and all that. As discussed at our forum, we had planned to show a little update last weekend. Sadly I fell ill with a stomach bug, but now that I'm feeling a bit better I had time to get a little work done. All elements are not completely in place yet, but here's a little teaser image of what you can expect to see in the movie - that will be ready this weekend if all goes to plan..

Disclaimer: WOF will not use real names or logos. I've used these images and names as placeholders only, we will have to make custom logos and altered names for all teams and footballers instead.

Today Redhair became the first person to get his 'name-in-game-avatar' into a build.. Redhair is the red #25 of German club Kaiserslautern facing off against Turkish side Fenerbahçe.

The process is not yet automated (we're not focusing on that yet) - but it was fun seeing his avatar running around in-game all the same - and I'm sure he'll feel the same once he gets to do so himself - and hopefully that goes for all of you too!

Dreadlocks! I don't smoke weed, honestly, I hardly even drink! - But I do like reggae and the rasta look. Not for myself though, but then again, no 'look' really suits my deformed face! Anyway, enough mindless ranting - and sorry if anybody got offended and worry that I might think that all people wearing dreadlocks smoke weed... and, to get the disclaimers out of the way, I'm pretty clueless about the rastafari traditions and beliefs also... =)

Aaaanyway, here's how it looks:

Here's how it looks in-game at the moment.. Please pay no attention to the incomplete stadium in the background!

Making a believable crowd have always been high on my list, when it comes to atmosphere its pretty much a must have. Kimera Park is the name of the stadium I'm currently working on - and the default stadium in WOF - for the moment at least.

Check out this video of the spectators in-game. Its still incomplete, but I'm getting closer. Expect the spectators to stand less orderly also, at the moment they line up too nicely..

Below are a few images showing the earlier stages of adding spectators..

Here's yet another preview of the menu screens that I'm working on, on and off..

I've said it before, so its going to sound stupid - or at least not very convincing, but I'm quite happy with the current design and will stick to it from now on..

Below are two images in an almost finished state - some minor details are missing but the look and feel is intact. Click on the images to see bigger versions..

Click the image to see a larger version..

Yeah, so what? So I know a song by Alicia Keys... =P

A goal keeper animation test..

Here's a preview of the line-up screen with extra information.. - oh and don't pay any attention to the data or names etc., its just a concept still..

Click the image too see a larger version

Here's a little preview of the GUI design that I've been working on for a long time now.

Countless iterations, going back and forth over the design due to my frustration with my own ineptitude.. Its been really tough and despairing at times even - I want to get this just right. The right balance of attitude versus readability. I love arcade style graphics but they often rely on huge fonts with stylish designed letters, but with all the information on the screen that would maybe look nice, but also make it very hard to 'read'..

Click the image too see a larger version

A big issue for me was to get all the players of both teams on one screen, including the most significant information about the footballers. It makes it easier to quickly compare two or more footballers since you don't have to remember the stats of one guy when you're scrolling down to see another guys stats. I also wanted to show the formations on a single pitch area - the way the teams will face up, instead of having all the footballers of one team on only one half of the pitch (I hope that made sense). You can now easily compare if your midfield will be outnumbered or if you're putting one forward up against a five-man defense.

Another concern was making it simple and easy on the eyes, but also not boring - and having to make it fit the feel of WOF also.. People should recognise the menus and realise they belong to WOF and not another game. Anyway, enough ranting. At the moment I'm kinda satisfied with it - hopefully this feeling will last - and hopefully you will like it also! =)

Here's a few renders of the footballer mesh. There's 1472 faces/786 vertices in the mesh.. Some people I know will get physically ill when they see this wireframe of the model, but I'm not religious about edgeloops or only using 4-sided polygons so its a mix of 3 - 4 sided faces..