Kevin Toms Blog

30 years on Football Manager rebirth renewal

Kevin Toms — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:21:33 +0000

Well clearly people loved the game I wrote 30 years ago. It’s amazing and delightful. But, it was 30 years ago and whilst you can still play Spectrum Football Manager online the game needs modernizing and a rebirth. Who would you get to do that? Well my skills are modern so it’s my job to complete. And that’s what I am doing now. – Completing the iPhone version of my new Football Manager type game.

30 years ago Football Manager – making stick men footballers!

Kevin Toms — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:22:45 +0000

30 years ago, the ZX81 game was doing well, the TRS80 Football Manager not so much. Then Sinclair came out with the Spectrum. So, I spent a busy couple of months enhancing the game. And one of the things I decided to do was add goal mouth action. So I got busy designing animated footballers on a 3D view of the football pitch. These footballers were stick men graphics, but they worked:

I built intelligence into their behaviour. It was simple but effective. Within the limitations, there was an infinite variety of things that could happen, so it kept the excitement, the uncertainty during the match.

Stick men graphics I created for Spectrum Football Manage

30 years on – the new Football Manager type game from me.

Kevin Toms — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:03:41 +0000

So what was it that made the original Football Manager catch on so well, and what can I do now? Well since I wrote it, I know a lot about what made the original tick. I know I made it very playable, very enjoyable, and it had a pace that kept people playing it. I know this because it was all deliberate. I was not new to programming, it was my profession, I was not new to games design- I had been inventing games, both board games, and ball games for years. So there was no random chance about what I put together.

When you are a programmer AND a games designer, you are in the best position to tune and design the game for sheer playability. There are no communication issues in the way. But, there is only you.

So now, I am completing my new Football Manager type game for the iPhone (name suggestions always welcome!). On the iPhone, once more I am free, just like 30 years ago to program and design the entire game myself. So, if I have my way, it will have my strengths in design- simple to learn, fun, very playable. And of course my weaknesses- not flash on presentation lol!

I am close now, I am having fun, creating fun, and that is the way it should be. I will be very happy when the game is (soon) ready for release and I can talk about it and discuss what I have created.

30 years ago – I wrote Football Manager

Kevin Toms — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:12:36 +0000

So I launched it on to the market in January 1982. But before that of course, I wrote it. I bought a Video Genie to write it on. The Video Genie was a Tandy TRS80 clone.

The computer Football Manager was written on.

It was cheaper, but still expensive for me at the time. But, I believed that I would be successful with the game. Overall it was about a year of writing the game.

The game had its roots in many board game versions I had written, but at this time I was a professional computer programmer by day, so I knew what I was doing on the Video Genie. I chose to use the built in Basic because it was much better suited to a strategy game than the limitations of Assembler.

Just before going to launch, the ZX81 came out, and I realised the potential market it was creating with its low price, so I converted the game to run on the ZX81 too.

Football Manager was converted by me to run on this

That, was a very worthwhile decision!! – The sales on the ZX81 proved to be 100 times what they were on the TRS80/Video Genie. If I had only launched on that, the whole thing would not have got off the ground as I would have lost money on every advert placed.

So the ZX81 was critical to the early success.

30 YEARS SINCE I LAUNCHED FOOTBALL MANAGER

Kevin Toms — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:16:10 +0000

It’s worth putting that headline in caps. It was January 1982 that the first advert for Football Manager (my original game) appeared on the newstands in Computer and Video Games magazine. 30 years on, that foundation game has grown into a genre of computer games. My original game was very playable, and very popular, spending years high in the Gallup charts of the time. I still hear regularly from people who loved and still love playing it. I am proud of what I created.

I believe I can still write good enjoyable games and soon I will be launching a new Football Manager type game for the iPhone.

The first ever advert for Football Manager by Kevin Toms

I thought it would be nice to do 2 things, show a copy of the original ad-

And to highlight a link to the pdf of the magazine here.

The magazine is the February 1982 issue but it was published in January 1982, so that is the first advert for Football Manager, 30 years ago. A life changing moment for me!

SOPA and PIPA are not the way to stop Piracy

Kevin Toms — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:06:34 +0000

I have had my own intellectual property pirated(I have heard all the excuses and justifications). It’s tough to take, but, the solution being put through the US law process at the moment is wrong. It will mess with the Internet and damage freedom of expression. Big, powerful companies will exploit it to bully and get what they want, just as they do now with Patents etc.

Here is a good explanation of why it is bad law

Tottenham Hotspur Nerve

Kevin Toms — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:10:41 +0000

Of course they lost it, a bit, it was to be expected. Great though that it is a 4 way race now, with Chelsea still in touch, it’s going to be an exciting season at the top of the Premier League. Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, can still catch up, but realistically it’s unlikely that the 4 leading teams will all stumble by 12 points, so I think it is down to the top 4 now.

Tottenham Hotspur Champions

Kevin Toms — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:26:05 +0000

The style of play, the positive attitude, the very astute manager, the continuous good form. – There are a lot of things that point to Spurs becoming champions this year. It seems unlikely only because Manchester United are so established and Manchester City are so rich in players.

But Spurs have been building to this for a long time, and it’s only the points table that now highlights it, so people are talking about it.

Personally I think they have the best chance to win it. They only have to hold their nerve!!

My iPhone/iPad Football Manager game 57 -Estimation

Kevin Toms — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:15:10 +0000

57.62% complete. – That is what I wrote earlier on Facebook. I have been involved in many projects, with many estimations. But they are mostly flawed with software development. They try to make developing software like building a bridge, something that is done with fixed materials, specifications etc.

But, often software is changed mid project, in fact so frequently that methods like extreme programming were invented to cope with that. The equivalent with building a bridge would be to change the materials half way across building the span from steel to a newly invented plastic.

So, I invented my own method to suit the way I am working on this game. And I am 57.62% complete.

2012 the Year of Positivity

Kevin Toms — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:00:34 +0000

Why should it be? Because we are surrounded right now by doomsayers. The demise of the Euro, global recession, austerity measures, no future for young people, the coming year will be the worst, etc etc.
Let’s make a football analogy. If you send your team out saying they are going to lose and there is no hope, what will happen? They will lose.
But what if you say the other team is vulnerable, that if we raise our game we can beat them. Then you might just win.
The point is, inspirational leadership is needed. And we lack that right now. Leaders yes, no inspirational leaders.
So I think we have to lead ourselves. My resolution for 2012- try and see the positives and ignore the gloom merchants!! Have a great year!