Rules + Realism vs Fun

There is a fine line between the rules of the game, trying to up hold the realism whilst still making sure the game is fun to play.

Some of the team here have started an online course all about Games projects Development and planning. We all have our roles in the team but we've decided to take the course to try and improve the understanding within the team about what everyone else does and how they contribute to the overall go/process.

This course has raised a interesting question for me - specifically with the self take rule which was introduced into hockey a few seasons ago. For anyone not familiar with it, players no longer have to pass to another player to make the ball active (at the start of the game or after a foul) and during play if the player is fouled but still has the ball then they can self pass but the defender who committed the foul has to retreat 5 metres before being able to engage in another attempt at a tackle.

This kind of rule will be interesting to implement, and its something that has been added in FIFA in recent seasons where you occasionally get the opportunity to take a quick free kick or a quick throw in.

In a real match after the ball has to be fetched by a player, at a top level you have ball boys/girls who role another ball to the player taking the free hit.

Often in FIFA the play is reset with the player in a position to take a free kick with the defense back and most of your team up front ready to get on the end of the ball. This won't really work for Field Hockey, coaches often refer to stretching the play pulling defenders out their position to create space for the player with the ball.

All in all this is the kind of challenges with are faced with implementing in the game, we cannot guarantee we will get everything right the first time - we can promise to keep trying until we do get it right.